The Dec’25 Brent futures contract has risen this morning, from $65.74/bbl at 03:30 BST to $66.56/bbl at 10:00 BST before softening to $65.90/bbl at 11:30 BST (time of writing). In the news, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the initial phase of his Gaza peace plan. The BBC reports that the deal would include the release of living Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners as well as a withdrawal of Israeli military forces. The deal is set to be formally approved by Israel at around 12:00 BST. Elsewhere, Serbia’s Russian-owned oil company NIS has said that it failed to obtain another waiver from US sanctions, potentially complicating its efforts to secure oil supplies; sanctions are due into effect today. In other news, a local union has reported that Brazilian oil firm Petrobras is facing $33.7mn in costs from keeping a drillship in the Foz do Amazonas basin on standby, pending approval on a drilling request. Chevron’s CEO, Mike Wirth, has told employees that he believes Chevron will outperform public financial targets after the company’s $55bn acquisition of a smaller oil producer, Hess. In Guyana, military cooperation with France has been strengthened, with the goal of safeguarding the oil-abundant Essequibo region. This move escalated tensions with Venezuela, who maintains a long-standing claim over the region, just as the US has intensified maritime strikes on vessels linked to Caracas. Finally, at time of writing, the front month Dec/Jan’26 and 6-month Dec/Jun’26 spreads are at $0.53/bbl and $1.12/bbl, respectively.
