
European Window: Brent Fall to $62.41/bbl
The Aug’25 Brent futures contract fell in a $1.43/bbl move down to $62.53/bbl at 13:47 BST. Prices then traded between $62.40/bbl and $63.04/bbl for the rest of the afternoon and at 17:20 BST (time of writing) were trading at $62.45/bbl. The Jul’25 contract similarly fell in a $0.96/bbl drop to $64.61/bbl and traded rangebound for the rest of the afternoon. In the news, OPEC+ may consider a July oil output hike larger than the 411kb/d increases for May and June at its Saturday meeting, sources told Reuters. The move follows rising tensions over members like Kazakhstan, which has refused to cut production despite exceeding its quota for months. Saudi Arabia and Russia are reportedly using higher output to pressure over-producing allies and regain market share. In other news, US crude oil output hit a record high of 13.49mb/d in March, surpassing the previous peak from October 2024, the EIA reported. However, demand for oil products fell to a 12-month low of 19.95 mb/d, highlighting a growing gap between supply and consumption. Libyan authorities have arrested three suspects linked to a militia that broke into the National Oil Corporation (NOC) headquarters in Tripoli, demanding jobs. The incident prompted the eastern Libyan government to threaten declaring force majeure on oilfields and export terminals, citing repeated assaults on the NOC. While NOC denies the break-in, tensions persist between the rival eastern and western governments. Finally the front-month Jul/Aug and 6-month Jul/Jan’26 spreads are at $1.35/bbl and $2.56/bbl respectively.