The Jul’25 Brent futures contract saw prices initially continue rallying up to $66.37/bbl at 12:56 BST but have been falling ever since, down to $65.11 at 17:25 BST (time of writing). In the news, the US House Energy and Commerce Committee has proposed over $1.5B to refill and maintain the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and to cancel a planned sale of 7mb. The plan includes $1.32B for oil purchases and $218 million for maintenance. The move supports former President Trump’s goal of refilling the SPR and cuts funding from Biden’s climate law. Equinor has temporarily halted production at Norway’s Johan Castberg oilfield in the Barents Sea due to a minor oil leak in a heat exchanger. The leak occurred over the weekend but caused no spill into the sea. Iraq plans to cut its crude oil exports to 3.2 mb/d in May and June, down from about 3.42 mb/d in March and 3.3 mb/d in April, as part of its OPEC+ compensation cuts. These reductions aim to offset Iraq’s previous overproduction and help balance the oil market amid broader OPEC+ output adjustments. In other news, CPC Blend oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) will fall to 1.5 mb/d in May, down from 1.6 mb/d in April. The pipeline, key for Kazakhstan’s oil exports, connects the Tengiz field and others to the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk. Kazakhstan’s energy ministry reaffirmed its commitment to OPEC+ production limits. Finally, the front-month Jul/Aug spread is at $0.45/bbl and the 6-month Jul/Jan’26 spread is at $1.24/bbl.
