The November Brent Futures contract has seen a strong morning session, rising from $66.11/bbl at 08:00 BST to $66.85/bbl at the time of writing (11:00 BST). In headlines, Hungary has reaffirmed it will not suspend Russian oil imports despite US and EU pressure, with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stressing that the country’s energy security depends on Russian supplies due to existing infrastructure. Hungary, which buys about 5 million tons of Russian crude annually through state energy firm MOL and is one of only two EU states directly purchasing Russian crude, argues that alternatives are physically unfeasible. Brussels is considering offering over €500 million in frozen funds to persuade Budapest to give up Russian oil. Meanwhile, Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 project continues exports to China despite Western sanctions, with the Arctic Mulan delivering its second cargo to Beihai this week and several other tankers en route to Asia, signalling steady Russian-Chinese energy trade. At the time of writing, the front (Nov/Dec) and 6-month (Nov/May) are at $0.62/bbl and $1.51/bbl, respectively.
