Nov’25 Brent futures was fairly rangebound on Thursday afternoon, trading with a $1/bbl range between $66.30 and $67.20/bbl. $66.50/bbl appears to be a key short-term support level, with prices seeing support there on 26-27 Aug, where they also faced resistance in the two weeks from 8-19 Aug. EIA stats indicated that US crude inventories rose by 2.4mb in the week ending 29 Aug, higher than the 0.6mb figure cited by the API. In the news, Trump pressed European leaders to halt Russian oil purchases, accusing them of funding Moscow’s war even as EU officials discussed future security guarantees for Ukraine. Nigeria’s Dangote refinery has shut its 204kb/d gasoline-making RFCC unit after catalyst leaks, with repairs that could last 2-3 months and tighten global gasoline supplies. US private-sector payrolls rose by just 54,000 in August, well below forecasts, underscoring a cooling labour market with slower job growth, softer wage gains, and mounting expectations for Fed rate cuts. Finally, the front (Nov/Dec) and 6-month (Nov/May) Brent futures spreads are at $0.46/bbl and $1.22/bbl respectively.
