The Nov’25 Brent futures contract softened from a high of $67.50/bbl, which it tested twice between 8:00 and 8:30 this morning, to $66.85/bbl around 11:25 BST. Prices finally climbed to $66.95/bbl at the time of writing (11:34 BST). Ukrainian drones struck Russia’s Salavat refinery (200kb/d) in the Southern Urals for the first time in over a year on 18 Sep, with Bashkortostan regional governor Radii Khabirov confirming, via Telegram, that two aeroplane-type drones attacked and set fire to the refinery. Ukrainian Special Operations Forces claimed, in a separate Telegram statement on 18 Sep, that they also hit the Volgograd refinery, the largest refinery in Southern Russia. Meanwhile, US senators seek to add to their sanctions on Moscow’s energy exports via new legislation set to be announced today. The Shadow Fleets Act is to be announced by Republican senator Jim Risch, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Jeanne Shaheen, the committee’s top Democrat. The legislation would also target Russian LNG projects and expand penalties on the country’s defence industrial base if enacted. In other news, US President Donald Trump has declined to approve a more than $400 million military aid package for Taiwan, as Washington seeks a trade deal with Beijing, as per the Washington Post. Moreover, on Thursday (18 Sep), the Trump administration asked the US Supreme Court for an emergency order to remove Lisa Cook from the US Federal Reserve’s board of governors. Finally, at the time of writing, the Nov/Dec’25 and Nov/May’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.57/bbl and $1.49/bbl, respectively.
