The Feb’26 Brent futures contract rose this afternoon, from $62.57/bbl at 14:40 GMT to $63.50/bbl at 16:50 GMT. In the news, the Trump administration has approved transactions with Lukoil gas stations outside Russia, issuing a narrow waiver to the sanctions imposed by the US in October. According to a US Treasury Department post, these transactions are authorised until 26 April 2026. Elsewhere, Reuters reported that oil exports from Russia’s Novorossiysk and the CPC terminal were roughly 1mt behind schedule in November, due to storms and recent drone attacks that disrupted loading operations. Scheduled loadings of Urals, Siberian Light, and KEBCO crude were at 3.2mt, though actual exports reached just 2.5mt. Reuters also reported that CPC Blend oil shipments were also delayed, as two Suezmax cargoes totalling around 300kt were rolled over into December. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s oil and gas condensate production decreased by 6% during the first two days of December, after a Ukrainian drone attack on the CPC. According to Reuters sources, Kazakhstan’s oil and gas condensate production fell in the first two days of December to 1.9mb/d, down from the average daily output in November. In other news, weekly US jobless claims have fallen 27k to 191k; this is the lowest level since September 2022. Finally, the front-month Feb/Mar’26 and 6-month Feb/Aug’26 spreads are at $0.40/bbl and $0.97/bbl, respectively.
