Donna Dong
Research Analyst, Flux
M1 Brent Breaks $70/bbl
Lukoil in talks to sell foreign assets. Chevron reassures Kazakhstan. ADNOC expands Asia trading. Fed holds rates steady
The Apr’26 Brent futures contract strengthened this morning, from $68.10/bbl at 06:00 GMT to $68.90/bbl at 10:00 GMT (time of writing). The M1 (Mar'26) Brent futures contract briefly broke $70/bbl this morning, printing $69.69/bbl at the time of writing.
In the news, US private equity firm Carlyle Group has agreed to acquire most of Lukoil's $22 billion worth of foreign assets. Neither Lukoil nor Carlyle provided an asset sale price, which remains subject to approval by the US sanctions authority. Lukoil, in its announcement, said that it was engaging in ongoing negotiations with other potential buyers. Elsewhere, Kazakhstan has stated that Chevron has assured the government it will implement measures to guarantee the reliable and safe functioning of facilities at the Tengiz oilfield. Kazakhstan's First Deputy Prime Minister, Roman Sklyar, expressed concern about the incidents at the Tengiz field, though he said that "Chevron management also assured that it would take specific actions to prevent similar situations…and ensure the reliable and safe operation of facilities." In other news, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co's (ADNOC) global trading division is leasing fuel oil storage in Singapore for the first time, as part of the UAE-backed oil and gas company's strategy to increase trade volumes across Asia. In macro news, the US Federal Reserve has held its interest rates steady, as expected, for the first time since July. Governors Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller dissented, both favouring a 25-basis point cut. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell noted housing market weakness and said he was not expecting consumer prices to move significantly higher, barring any new tariff rate changes from US President Donald Trump. Finally, at the time of writing, the Apr/May and Apr/Oct spreads are at $0.72/bbl and $2.71/bbl, respectively.
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