The front-month (Oct’25) Brent futures contract eased from $68.60/bbl at noon today to $68.10/bbl at 14:10 BST, where prices met support and climbed to $69.35/bbl by 16:35 BST. Nevertheless, the futures contract eventually retreated to $68.85/bbl at the time of writing (17:48 BST). US President Donald Trump reiterated today that he will substantially raise tariffs on goods from India, stating, in a post on Truth Social, that “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine.” In line with this, Indian Oil Corp has purchased 7mb of crude oil from the US, Canada, and the Middle East, as per a Reuters report. However, on the domestic front, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the nation to purchase local goods, and his administration has yet to instruct India’s refiners to curb their purchases of Russian oil. In macroeconomic news, new orders for US-manufactured goods eased by 4.8% in June 2025, which was in line with expectations but followed a revised 8.3% increase in May. Finally, at the time of writing, the front-month (Oct/Nov’25) and six-month (Oct/Apr’26) Brent futures spreads stand at $0.78/bbl and $2.25/bbl
