The Feb’26 Brent futures is trading higher than levels from Thursday afternoon, when prices briefly fell below $61/bbl. Prices touched highs of $61.80/bbl on Friday morning before falling by 50c since 17:00 SGT to $61.30/bbl by 17:45 SGT (time of writing). Prices have been seeing lower lows since the end of October, reinforcing the short term bearish trend. In the news, a reported overnight drone attack may have struck Russia’s 300kb/d Slavneft-YANOS refinery in Yaroslavl, though the extent of damage and impact on operations remains unclear. US officials say the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker could be followed by further confiscations, signalling a broader effort to choke off oil revenues and intensify pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s government. Indeed, more than 30 OFAC-sanctioned tankers remain in Venezuelan waters and within reach of US naval forces. Finally, the front-month (Feb/Mar) and 6-month (Feb/Aug) Brent futures spreads are at $0.22/bbl and $0.36/bbl respectively.
