
European Window: Brent Drops to $68.70/bbl
The Sep’25 Brent Futures contract rallied from $68.88/bbl to $69.49/bbl at 17:11 BST. Prices dropped to $68.70/bbl at 17:33 BST (time of writing). In the news, Chevron is regaining permission from the Trump administration to resume oil production in Venezuela, according to WSJ. The agreement comes shortly after a prisoner swap that freed the last 10 Americans held by the Venezuelan government. Chevron confirmed it would continue to operate in line with US laws and sanctions. Earlier this year, the Trump administration revoked Chevron’s license granted under President Biden. Venezuela’s production has stayed at around 900kb/d to 1 mb/d, with much of its crude rerouted through hubs like Malaysia to China despite US threats of tariffs on nations importing Venezuelan oil. In other news, Russia’s FSB has resumed approving foreign tankers to access Black Sea ports, allowing Kazakhstan’s oil exports to restart after a brief halt that disrupted about 2% of global supply and pushed oil prices near $70/bbl. The suspension followed new Russian regulations signed by President Putin after fresh EU sanctions over Ukraine. Kazakhstan’s exports through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium were briefly stopped, though plans for August shipments remain largely unchanged. Russia is preparing to impose a stricter gasoline export ban that will also apply to fuel producers, aiming to curb rising domestic prices, according to industry sources. The measure would expand current restrictions that only cover resellers. Exemptions will apply to the Eurasian Economic Union and countries with specific fuel agreements, such as Mongolia. Russia has repeatedly used temporary export bans in recent years to prevent shortages and stabilize prices. Finally, the front-month Sep/Oct and 6-month Sep/Mar’26 spreads are at $0.76/bbl and $2.16/bbl respectively.