The Aug’25 Brent futures contract initially rallied to $65.56/bbl before falling off to $64.91/bbl at 09:41 BST. Prices slightly recovered, but dropped down to $64.43 at 11:50 BST (time of writing). In the news, a Federal US court has blocked President Donald Trump’s tariffs on nearly all imports into the US, giving the Trump administration 10 days to effectuate the order. The White House will probably appeal the decision and should it be rejected the this will most likely be brought to the supreme court. In other news, Kazakhstan’s Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov said oil prices above $70–$75/bbl are acceptable for all countries. He dismissed OPEC+ criticism over Kazakhstan’s slight overproduction, noting the country’s small share of global output (under 2%). Kazakhstan’s crude production averaged 1.86 mb/d in early May. Portugal’s Galp expects a 40% increase in its oil and gas production in Brazil once the Bacalhau offshore field reaches peak output. Galp currently produces 110kb/d in Brazil through a joint venture with China’s Sinopec and holds a 20% stake in Bacalhau. Operated by Equinor (40% stake), the field’s FPSO unit arrived in February and is set to start production in Q3. TotalEnergies has agreed to sell its 12.5% stake in Nigeria’s offshore Bonga oilfield to Shell for $510 million. The deal will raise Shell’s share to 67.5%, reinforcing its focus on deep-water production in Nigeria following its exit from onshore operations. Bonga is expanding with plans to add 110,kb/d by decade’s end. The FPSO at Bonga has a 225kb/d capacity. Finally the front-month Jul/Aug spread is at $0.67/bbl and the 6-month spread is at $1.96/bbl.
