The Feb’25 Brent futures contract fell slightly from $72/bbl at 07:00 GMT down to $71.65/bbl at 10:20 GMT (time of writing). Crude oil markets appear to have largely priced in the OPEC+ decision to delay production hikes, in line with traders’ expectations and ongoing concerns surrounding oil demand. In the news today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated in an interview that the use of a hypersonic missile on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro last month was a demonstration to the West that Moscow is ready to use any means to ensure no “strategic defeat” would be inflicted on Russia. In other news, Chevron will reduce capital expenditures in the Permian Basin to between $4.5 billion and $5 billion in 2025, a drop of more than 10% y/y and marking the oil giant’s first budget reduction since 2021, as per Bloomberg. Finally, German industrial production data released 06 Dec for October showed a 1% decline m/m compared to expectations of a 1.2% increase. The Federal Statistical Office of Germany said the decline was mainly centred in energy production and the automotive industry. At the time of writing, the Feb/Mar’25 and Feb/Aug’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.38/bbl and $1.26/bbl, respectively.
