The Jul’25 Brent futures contract fell from $65.08/bbl to $64.20/bbl at 07:48 BST. Prices then jumped between $64.20/bbl and $64.65/bbl, and were trading at $64.56/bbl at 11:30 BST (time of writing). In the news, US President Donald Trump has said he plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as possible, emphasizing that peace in Ukraine cannot be achieved until they meet face-to-face. Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority is offering a 15% fee discount for large containerships (13,500 TEU and above) over the next three months. The move follows a sharp drop in canal revenues due to ship diversions triggered by Houthi attacks on vessels. In other news, the UAE plans to boost its energy investments in the US to $440B by 2035, up from $70B currently. This announcement was made by Sultan Al Jaber, CEO of Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC, during US President Donald Trump’s Gulf tour. The UAE has already committed $60B to new upstream oil and gas projects and unconventional energy opportunities with major US firms like ExxonMobil, Occidental, and EOG Resources. Kuwait plans to invest up to $50B over five years to boost its oil production capacity to over 3 mb/d. The country recently discovered significant reserves in the Al-Noukhitha offshore field. Canadian oil producer Strathcona plans a $4.25B takeover bid for MEG Energy to become Canada’s fifth-largest oil producer. Strathcona formally proposed the deal on April 28, but MEG’s board rejected it on May 13, saying they were not interested in a merger. Finally the front-month Jul/Aug and 6-month Jul/Jan’26 spreads are at $0.55/bbl and $1.40/bbl respectively.
