After closing below $60/bbl for the first time since early 2021, the Feb’26 Brent futures bounced higher on Tuesday morning and retraced above $60/bbl, as markets saw a bullish reaction to a headline stating new Russia sanctions being planned by the US if Putin rejects the peace deal. The headline boosted Brent by 50c, which traded at $60.21/bbl at 18:00 SGT (time of writing). In other news, Trump ordered on Tuesday a “blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, in Washington’s latest move to increase pressure on the Maduro government, targeting its main source of revenue. Whilst US seizures and blockade threats have effectively halted most sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipping, Chevron continues to export under its US license, leaving it the lone major operator amid escalating pressure on the Venezuelan government. Ukrainian drone debris caused a brief fire at Russia’s Slavyansk oil refinery in the Krasnodar region overnight. India’s Russian oil imports remain resilient at over 1mb/d despite tighter US sanctions, as refiners continue buying deeply discounted crude via non-sanctioned entities and supply workarounds. Finally, the front-month (Feb/Mar) and 6-month (Feb/Aug) Brent futures spreads are at $0.30/bbl and $0.31/bbl respectively.
