The Jul’25 Brent futures contract initially saw prices rangebound between $66.17/bbl and $66.56/bbl before falling off to $65.73/bbl at 11:10 BST. Prices have slightly recovered to $65.94/bbl at 11:32 BST (time of writing). In the news, US President Donald Trump announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria, following a request from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Syria’s foreign minister called the move a “new start” for the country. Trump also signed a $600B Saudi investment deal and a $142B US arms package, calling it the largest defence agreement in American history. In other news, US crude oil inventories unexpectedly rose by 4.287mb last week, defying forecasts of a 2.4mb draw, according to API data. This follows a 4.49mb drop the week before and brings the year-to-date inventory gain to over 23mb. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve also increased by 500kb to 399.6 million. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has expressed conditional support for a new pipeline project, emphasising the need for national consensus. In an interview with CTV News, Carney said he was open to backing a pipeline but stressed that it must be part of a broader energy strategy combining oil, gas, and renewables. However, he cautioned that a single pipeline wouldn’t be enough, advocating for a mix of major initiatives to ensure long-term prosperity. Finally the front month Jul/Aug spread is at $0.47/bbl and the 6-month Jul/Jan’26 spread is at $1.40/bbl.
