The Feb’26 Brent futures flat price opened around 35c higher from Friday’s close at $60.91/bbl, reaching highs of $61.25/bbl and seeing support at the $61/bbl level by 17:30 SGT (time of writing). The bullish reaction comes after the US seized a second oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela and is in pursuit of a third, as of Monday morning. The second vessel, Centuries, is not on the list of US-sanctioned vessels, which would represent an escalation in US enforcement of its blockade. The third vessel, BELLA 1, is an OFAC-blacklisted VLCC, primarily serving Iran and Venezuelan oil exports. Meanwhile, the US blockade on Venezuelan oil threatens Cuba’s remaining 30kb/d lifeline, deepening a crisis marked by a 15% economic contraction since 2018 and the exodus of a quarter of its population since 2020. Harbour Energy is entering the deepwater US Gulf of Mexico by acquiring LLOG Exploration for $3.2 billion in cash and shares, adding 34,000 boe/d of low-cost production as its fields in the UK North Sea decline. Ukrainian long-range drones hit Russia’s Volna port on the Black Sea, damaging ships, piers and a pipeline, as Kyiv also struck a Lukoil PJSC offshore platform and a Russian shadow-fleet tanker over the weekend. Finally, the front-month (Feb/Mar) and 6-month (Feb/Aug) Brent futures spreads are at $0.40/bbl and $0.80/bbl respectively.
