Nov’25 Brent futures traded lower on Thursday afternoon, falling below $68/bbl and stabilising around $67.50/bbl. Prices declined after Trump commented that Putin had “really let me down” following a meeting with UK PM Keir Starmer, lamenting the fact that allies continued to purchase Russian energy. In other news, Ukraine said on Thursday that its drones struck a major oil processing and petchem complex and an oil refinery in Russia, as it intensifies its campaign to disrupt Russia’s oil and gas sector. Russia is boosting September oil loadings at Ust-Luga and Novorossiisk to offset Primorsk export delays after drone attacks, keeping overall shipments stable despite refinery outages and infrastructure damage. Nigeria and 15 other African nations have launched the African Petroleum Regulators Forum to harmonise oil regulations, improve transparency and attract investment across the continent’s energy sector. A US judge upheld the validity of PDVSA’s defaulted 2020 bonds backed by Citgo shares, prompting a temporary halt to the Delaware auction of Citgo’s parent as creditors pursue Venezuela’s key US refining asset. After years of pushing a rapid energy transition, California is now courting oil refiners to prevent more plant closures and a potential fuel-supply crunch, delaying a planned profit cap and passing legislation to boost drilling in Kern County even as it keeps longer-term climate goals. Finally, the front (Nov/Dec) and 6-month (Nov/May) Brent futures spreads are at $0.50/bbl and $1.45/bbl respectively.
