The front-month (Nov’25) Brent futures reached a low of $68.06/bbl at 14.00 BST and strengthened to $69.10/bbl at 17.25 BST (time of writing). Saudi Arabia is issuing new dollar Sukuk bonds, with five- and 10-year maturities, to help cover a growing budget deficit caused by lower oil prices and heavy spending on Vision 2030 projects. Investor demand has been strong, with about $15 billion in orders placed by midday in London. Despite relatively low debt levels, the IMF projects Saudi debt will rise to 41% of GDP by 2030 as borrowing continues to fund economic diversification. Saudi Aramco and Iraq’s SOMO have halted crude sales to India’s Nayara Energy after EU sanctions on the Rosneft-backed refiner. As a result, Nayara relied solely on Russian oil in August, missing its usual monthly supply of about 3 mb from Saudi and Iraqi sources. The US imposed new sanctions on companies and vessels linked to businessman Waleed al-Samarra’i for smuggling Iranian oil disguised as Iraqi crude. Washington said the move is part of its maximum pressure strategy to cut Tehran’s revenues and curb its destabilising activities. The US pledged to keep using all tools available to target those enabling Iran’s illicit oil trade. LSEG reported today that Asian crude imports rose to 27.18mb/d in August, driven by cheaper oil that boosted purchases of Iraqi crude, especially by China and India. Iraq has benefited as a price-sensitive supplier, with exports to Asia averaging 510kb/d in 2025 and generating $71.9 Bn in sales to Asian buyers in 2024. China and India remained Iraq’s top customers, with total exports reaching 1.23 billion bbls last year. Finally, at the time of writing, the front-month (Nov/Dec’25) and six-month (Nov/May’25) Brent futures spreads sit at $0.56/bbl and $1.60/bbl, respectively.
