The Aug’25 Brent futures contract traded between $65.14/bbl and $65.91/bbl for most of the afternoon. The contract fell to $64.48/bbl at 16:18 BST but has slightly recovered to $64.69/bbl at 17:30 BST (time of writing). In the news, US crude inventories dropped by 4.3 mb last week to 436.1 million, as refineries ramped up operations to 93.4% capacity for the summer driving season, EIA data shows. However, fuel inventories rose sharply: gasoline by 5.2 mb and distillates by 4.2 mb. Gasoline consumption fell by 1.2 mb/d to 8.3 mb/d, raising concerns about demand despite the post-Memorial Day period. Crude imports increased by 389kb/d, and Cushing stocks rose by 576kb. In other news, PetroChina will shut down the last crude unit at its 410kb/d Dalian refinery, its largest in northern China, on June 30, marking the first full closure of a state-run refinery in the country. The secondary units will follow in July, and inventories will be cleared by August. The Dalian plant, which processes mainly Russian ESPO crude, represents nearly 3% of China’s refining capacity. Russia’s National Wealth Fund lost nearly $6B in liquid assets in May, falling to $35.5B, according to the finance ministry. Liquid assets have dropped 68% since the Ukraine invasion began in 2022. The decline is tied to falling oil prices, which pushed Russian oil revenues to just $6.5B in May. Crude export volumes held steady, but revenues sank to a two-year low. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has suggested revising the $60/bbl benchmark in Russia’s budget rule as oil prices stay below that level. Finally, The front-month Aug/Sep and 6-month Aug/Feb’26 spreads are at $0.64/bbl and $1.41/bbl respectively.
