Donna Dong
Research Analyst, Flux
Brent Inches to $94.71/bbl
Brent rebounds near $95 as Oman restores exports, Iranian flows collapse, and OPEC keeps demand outlook firm.
The Aug’26 Brent futures contract has risen from $93.98/bbl at 09:29 BST to $94.71/bbl at 11:22 BST (time of writing).
In the news, Petroleum Development Oman has announced that Mina Al Fahal port operations are back to normal, despite earlier reports from Reuters that oil loading had been paused after an explosion near its mooring areas. The explosion, believed to be caused by a drone attack, allegedly took place between SBM 1 and 2 berths. Oman exports around 800-900kb/d of crude from the terminal. In Iran, May crude oil and condensate exports dropped to their lowest level in at least 6 years, to below 300kb/d, primarily due to the US naval blockade. The US began implementing the blockade on 13 Apr, restricting Iranian exports amid an oil market supply crunch caused by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz. According to Vortexa data, Iran's exports averaged about 209kb/d in May, a significant decline from 1.34mb/d in April and nearly 1.9mb/d in March. This is their lowest level since late 2019 and early 2020. In India, companies are eager to expand their presence in Venezuela, Hardeep Singh Puri, the oil minister of India, told Venezuela's Interim President Delcy Rodriguez during their meeting in New Delhi. In May, New Delhi was the second-largest importer of Venezuelan oil, purchasing 427kb/d, according to Reuters. Additionally, India has stated that Venezuela was among its major crude oil suppliers in both April and May. During discussions on strengthening the energy partnership between the two nations, Rodriguez also invited an Indian energy delegation to visit Venezuela and explore opportunities in its energy sector, as confirmed by India's oil ministry in a statement. In other news, OPEC anticipates strong growth in oil demand and is maintaining its current estimates, according to Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday. "We still project demand to grow robustly by 1.2mb/d this year," he stated. Finally, the front-month (Aug/Sep) and 6-month (Aug/Feb) Brent futures spreads are at $2.57/bbl and $11.32/bbl, respectively.
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