The Aug’25 Brent futures contract initially rallied to $68.28/bbl at 07/55 BST before falling to $67.39/bbl at 10:15 BST. Prices have since recovered to $67.80/bbl at 11:30 BST (time of writing). In the news, Shell clarified it has not made a bid for BP and is not considering such a move, denying a Wall Street Journal report suggesting acquisition talks were underway. In a formal statement, Shell said no discussions had taken place and it is now bound by UK takeover rules which bar it from making a new offer for BP for six months, unless invited by BP or prompted by another bid. In other news, India’s refinery throughput rose 0.4% y/y in May to 5.47 mb/d, driven by the highest fuel demand in over a year and record-high crude imports, provisional data from the oil ministry showed. Refiners processed 5.25 mb/d in April. Russian oil’s share in imports slipped as Indian refiners cut May purchases by 15.7% to 1.7 mb/d. One notable disruption was MRPL’s shutdown of a 144 kb/d unit mid-May. Equinor and its partners, Vaar Energi and Inpex Idemitsu, will invest over $2.08 B to develop the Fram South oil and gas field in the North Sea. Production is expected to begin by the end of 2029, with exports routed through the existing Troll C platform. Equinor holds a 45% stake, Vaar Energi 40%, and Inpex Idemitsu Norge 15%. Equinor highlighted the project’s role in enhancing Europe’s energy security. Finally, the front-month Aug/Sep spread us at $0.89/bbl and the 6-month Aug/Feb’26 spread is at $3.05/bbl.
