Amid choppy price action this morning, the Dec’24 Brent futures contract weakened a touch from $79.65/bbl at 07:00 BST to $79.43/bbl at 11:50 BST (time of writing). After briefly trading above the $80/bbl level yesterday, the contract saw less support alongside increasing Libyan output and changing risk of regional escalation of war in the Middle East, as traders continue to wait for Israel’s potential retaliation on Iran. However, downside pressure was limited by production shut-ins in the US Gulf Coast caused by Hurricane Milton. In the news today, Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has warned Israel against any potential attack on Iranian infrastructure, stating that any Israeli incursion would be met with a stronger retaliation. In other news, Hurricane Milton, now a Category 5 storm, is expected to make landfall tomorrow in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Chevron has shut in its Blind Faith platform in response, whilst the rest of its Gulf of Mexico assets remain operational. Finally, China has said that is ‘fully confident’ in reaching its annual growth target of 5%, according to Reuters. Zheng Shanjie, the Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission announced a government plan to issue $28.3 billion in advance budget spending from next year, however, to the disappointment of investors seeking a greater fiscal stimulus. At the time of writing, the front month (Dec/Jan’25) and six-month (Dec/Jun’25) Brent futures spreads are at $0.51/bbl and $2.25/bbl, respectively.
