The Dec’25 Brent Futures contract dipped this afternoon before recovering, from $65.68/bbl at 12:00 BST to $65.24/bbl at 14:00 BST and rallying to $65.78/bbl at 17:25 BST (time of writing). In the news, Indian imports of Russian crude oil dipped last month, averaging 1.61mb/d, down 1.72mb/d from August and 16% lower as compared to Sep 2024. Bloomberg reported that Indian refiners appear to be gradually broadening their supply basket, though Russian crude continues to account for roughly a third of all crude arrivals in the country. In other news, major US oil companies and their top managers have been targeted by the Sanaa-based Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), a body set up last year to liaise between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators. As reported by Reuters, the sanctions are in retaliation for US sanctions imposed on the Houthis this year despite a truce agreement with the Trump administration. It is unclear whether these sanctions signal that the Houthis will begin targeting vessels linked to the sanctioned organizations and individuals; this would risk violation of the Trump administration’s ceasefire agreements. In other news, Iraqi Oil Minister Hayyan Abdul Ghani has said that Iraq plans to increase its oil production capacity to 5.5mb/d by the end of this year and plans to have an output capacity of at or above 6mb/d by 2029. Finally, at time of writing, the front-month Dec/Jan’26 and 6-month Dec/June’26 spreads are at $0.37/bbl and $0.89/bbl respectively.
