The Feb’26 Brent futures contract has recovered its overnight losses. The contract softened from $62.60/bbl at 20.16 GMT to move between $62.15-62.25/bbl overnight before rising to $62.55/bbl at 09.55 GMT (time of writing). The US envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow next week along with other senior U.S. officials for talks with Russian leaders about a potential plan to end the war in Ukraine. A senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday that Moscow will not make major concessions on a peace plan, after a leaked recording revealed Witkoff had advised how Russia should pitch proposals to U.S. President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the Turkish Ministry of Defence said on Thursday that a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia must be achieved before any talks on deploying a reassurance force can begin. On Tuesday, Emmanuel Macron stated that such a force would comprise French, British, and Turkish soldiers, and Ankara confirmed it was open to deployment if its terms were agreed upon. The UK Government has revised its North Sea licensing policy, permitting some oil and gas production on existing fields or infrastructure, but has retained the current windfall tax regime, which is disappointing to producers. A nighttime strike reportedly hit the Novokuybyshev oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region on 27 Nov, according to local Telegram channels. Officials have not confirmed the attack, and the extent of damage remains unclear, with no comment from Ukrainian authorities. Finally, at time of writing, the front-month Feb/Mar’26 and 6-month Feb/Aug’26 spreads are at $0.38/bbl and $0.61/bbl, respectively.
