Nov’24 Brent futures contract was rangebound between $74.50/bbl and $74.80/bbl throughout the morning, trading at $74.45/bbl at 11:25 BST (time of writing). In the news today, data from the General Administration of Chinese Customs stated that Chinese crude imports from Malaysia surged 31% (1.77 mb/d) y/y in August, making it China’s second-largest supplier after Russia. Furthermore, Malaysia serves as a major international terminal for crude oil shipments and has been allegedly linked to transportation of sanctioned Iranian and Venezuelan crude oil throughout Asia. In other news, after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s speech yesterday vowing to retaliate against the pager explosions, the conflict escalated further last night as Israeli warplanes carried out more than 52 airstrikes in southern Lebanon. In response, the Hezbollah chief stated this latest attack could be “a declaration of war”. Finally, Kazakhstan’s Karachaganak oilfield says it cut oil output from 5-9 Sep due to maintenance and is set to run another round of maintenance on 23-28 Sep. At the time of writing, the front month (Nov/Dec’24) and six-month (Nov/May’25) Brent futures spreads are at $0.85/bbl and $2.06/bbl, respectively.Nov’24 Brent futures contract was rangebound between $74.50/bbl and $74.80/bbl throughout the morning, trading at $74.45/bbl at 11:25 BST (time of writing).
