The Sep’25 Brent crude futures came off gradually on Wednesday morning, finding support at $68/bbl and trading at $68.20/bbl by 11:30 BST (time of writing). In the news, despite Chevron’s US-forced exit, Venezuela has held oil output near 1.1 mb/d in June-July by binge-buying diluent naphtha. Energy Minister Michael Shanks said the Prax Lindsey refinery will halt refining after this month as it goes into liquidation, with existing fuel sold off over the following weeks. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said sanctioning Russian oil is a “very real possibility” as part of efforts to end the Ukraine war, backing Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs on buyers if Moscow doesn’t agree to a peace deal by early September. India’s Nayara Energy, newly sanctioned by the EU, cancelled a naphtha export tender after tightening payment terms, marking the first such move since the bloc’s latest sanctions package targeting the Rosneft-backed refiner. Mexico plans to raise up to $10 billion through a special-purpose vehicle to indirectly support debt-laden Pemex, boosting its bonds amid efforts to stabilise the oil giant’s balance sheet without direct state intervention. Finally, the front (Sep/Oct) and 6-month (Sep/Mar) Brent futures spreads are at $0.72/bbl and $1.94/bbl respectively.
