The Feb’26 Brent futures contract failed to maintain strength above $63/bbl this afternoon, declining from $63.06/bbl at 13:00 GMT to $62.21/bbl at 14:55 GMT. Prices then recovered to $62.83/bbl at 16:30 GMT (time of writing). In the news, Besiktas Shipping, a Turkish owner of an oil tanker that was damaged near Senegal’s coast last week after four external explosions, announced that it is suspending all shipping operations related to Russian interests. Citing safety concerns, the company said it would halt operations with Russia immediately. Elsewhere, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) aims to complete all repairs on its SPM-3 at its Black Sea terminal ahead of schedule, restoring full CPC Blend oil export capacity after drone attacks last week. According to Reuters, the mooring is expected to return within the next week, despite an initial maintenance period of two months. Its SPM-2 mooring remains offline after Ukrainian attacks over the weekend. In other news, the US has denied Serbian refinery NIS a sanctions waiver, ultimately forcing the refinery to shut down. As a temporary measure to support the refinery, Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic stated that the government, risking secondary sanctions, would permit payments and transactions for the Russian-owned oil company, which is under US sanctions, until the end of the week. This step is intended to enable NIS to pay its workers and handle other transactions following the sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department in October. Meanwhile, Romania’s coalition government has approved a decree allowing it to seize control of Lukoil’s local assets. The decree allows the government to appoint special administrators to companies if sanctions disrupt economic sectors, cause price increases, or jeopardise energy security. This appointment requires prior approval from Romania’s top defence council. In Russia, Putin has claimed that if Ukrainian attacks continue, Russia may strike Ukrainian tankers. Finally, the front-month (Feb/Mar’26) and 6-month (Feb/Aug’26) spreads are at $0.39/bbl and $0.72/bbl, respectively.
