The Feb’26 Brent futures contract initially eased this afternoon, from $62.30/bbl at 13:00 GMT to $61.38/bbl at 16:00 GMT. Prices met some support here, rising to $61.78/bbl at 17:00 GMT (time of writing). In the news, the US has extended its deadline for negotiations on buying Russia’s Lukoil’s international assets until 17 Jan. The general licence from the US Treasury permits parties to enter into contracts for the sale of assets and the winding down of related work on them. Lukoil’s global assets, with an estimated value of $22bn, have drawn interest from US private equity firm Carlyle Group as well as US oil major Chevron. In other news, workers at Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras will begin a strike on 15 December, according to a FUP union statement. The strike occurs as workers find the company’s second counteroffer for a labour agreement insufficient, amid an ongoing dispute over a retirement fund deficit and efforts to modify the employee compensation structure. According to Reuters, Petrobras does not expect the strike to impact its operations or production. Elsewhere, Shell is seeking to dissolve its joint venture with Russia’s Rosneft, through which it holds a stake in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). In macro, a divided Fed is set for another interest rate cut today; a decision is due to be announced at 14:00 ET (19:00 GMT). Finally, at time of writing, the front-month Feb/Mar’26 and 6-month Feb/Aug’26 spreads are at $0.30/bbl and $0.64/bbl, respectively.
