Giovanni Simonetti
Junior Data Analyst, Flux
Brent Above $100.00/bbl
ndian LPG tankers pass through strait of Hormuz, Sinopec cuts crude throughput, Saudi Arabia cuts production by 2mb/d.
The May’26 Brent Futures contract rallied from $97.77/bbl at 12:45 GMT to $102.22/bbl at 16:17 GMT. Prices have since softened a touch to $101.43/bbl at 17:00 GMT (time of writing). I
In the news, Iran has permitted two Indian-flagged LPG carriers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Reuters sources, potentially alleviating India’s cooking gas shortage. Additionally, a crude oil tanker loaded with Saudi Arabian oil, which transited the Strait around 1 March, is due to reach India on 14 March, as confirmed by two sources and Lloyd’s List Intelligence data. In other news, China’s Sinopec plans to cut crude throughput by over 10% this month due to supply shortages caused by the Middle East war. The reduction, estimated at 600kb/d – 700kb/d, marks an 11–13% fall from Sinopec’s initial March plan of 5.2mb/d. Beijing has banned fuel exports to safeguard domestic supply and denied Sinopec access to state reserves. In response, Sinopec is maximizing fuel output and scaling back petrochemical production, with several refinery and steam cracker units across Fujian and Zhenhai already reducing operations. Saudi Arabia has slashed production by about 2 mb/d to roughly 8 mb/d following shutdowns at its major offshore Safaniya and Zuluf fields amid the Iran war. The affected fields yield over 2 mb/d of mostly heavy crude, contrasting with the pipeline's light crude capacity. The cut marks a sharp decline from February's 10.882 mb/d production. The IEA reports Middle East Gulf producers, including Iraq and UAE, have lost at least 10 mb/d total, with further reductions likely absent shipping resumption. Finally, at the time of writing, the front-month May/Jun’26 spread is at $4.35/bbl and the six-month May/Nov’26 spread is at $19.15/bbl.
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