The September Brent Futures contract experienced a mixed morning. Around 07:30 BST, it traded at $86.88/bbl before dipping to $86.50/bbl by 09:00 BST. It subsequently rebounded, rallying to a high of $87.04/bbl at 10:00 BST, before retracing back to $86.88/bbl at the time of writing (11:30 BST). In headlines today, Saudi Aramco is exploring a takeover bid for Australian energy giant Santos, with UAE’s ADNOC also considering an offer, as Bloomberg’s unnamed sources highlight Middle Eastern energy firms’ interest in expanding their international natural gas businesses. This follows an earlier takeover attempt by local competitor Woodside. Reuters notes that Santos’ market cap, approximately $16.63 billion as of Wednesday, increased following the announcement. In other news, India saw a decline in solar power generation growth during the first half of the year to the slowest in six years, while coal generation rose by 10.4%, outpacing overall power generation growth of 9.7% during the period. U.S. crude oil exports to Europe fell to a two-year low in June, with average daily exports at 1.45mb, marking a 14% drop from May and a 27% decrease from June 2023, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters. At the time of writing, the front (Sep/Oct) and 6 month (Sep/Mar) are at $0.82/bbl and $3.77/bbl, respectively.
