The Dec’25 Brent futures contract dipped this morning, from $65.31/bbl at 02:00 BST to $64.51/bbl at 11:00 BST (time of writing). In the news, the BBC reported that Israel has approved the initial phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal. While the deal was set to come into effect once an approval was given, air strikes continued to be reported overnight. Elsewhere, the US Treasury has blacklisted roughly 100 Chinese individuals, vessels, and companies for continuing to purchase Iranian oil. Included in the fresh sanctions is China’s Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group and Rizhao Shihua Crude Oil Terminal. In other news, Trinidad’s attorney general has announced that the US authorised Shell and Tobago to develop a Venezuelan gas field near the maritime border. Negotiations between the energy majors, Venezuela, and PDVSA are due to occur through April 2026. In New Delhi, Reuters reports that Russian-backed refiner, Nayara Energy, is facing disruptions in the face of EU sanctions from July. Nayara’s Vadinar refinery is now operating at just 70-80% of its 400kb/d capacity and is struggling to find buyers; September exports have dropped to 2.2mb on the month, down from its average previous 3.3mb/m export rates. Finally, at time of writing, the front-month Dec/Jan’26 and 6-month Dec/Jun’26 spreads are at $0.40/bbl and $0.68/bbl, respectively.
