The Jan’25 Brent futures contract rose this morning from $73.30/bbl at 07:00 GMT up to a high of $73.92/bbl at 09:20 GMT, before falling back down to $73.50/bbl at 10:40 GMT (time of writing). This morning, a Reuters report citing Kpler vessel-tracking data showed that China’s crude imports are on track to end November at or close to record highs, however, no exact figure was specified. Meanwhile, markets forecast a 0.8mb in US crude oil inventories, with EIA data due to be released at 15:30 GMT today for the week to 15 Nov. In the news today, around 10,900 North Korean troops have been deployed to the Kursk region as part of Russia’s airborne unit and marines, in addition to shipping arms for the war in Ukraine, according to a South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun citing the National Intelligence Service. In other news, the acting Minister of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Kamal Mohammad Salih, stated that Kurdistan’s oil exports will resume at the beginning of 2025 with barrel extraction costs set at $16, as per an article by Kurdistan24. This followed an agreement between the KRG and the central Iraqi government on a new production-sharing framework. At the time of writing, the Jan/Feb’25 and Jan/Jul’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.32/bbl and $1.05/bbl, respectively.
