Donna Dong
Research Analyst, Flux
Brent Rangebound at $108.86/bbl
Russia sends oil to Cuba; India cuts petrochemical taxes, Czech caps fuel prices, OPEC+ may boost output.
The Jun’26 Brent futures contract has traded rangebound this afternoon, between $108.52/bbl at 11:42 BST and $109.45/bbl at 12:30 BST. Prices are currently printing $108.86/bbl at 13:05 BST (time of writing).
In the news, Russia is preparing to send a second oil shipment to Cuba, according to Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev. Earlier, a Russian-flagged tanker carrying approximately 700kb of crude oil docked at Cuba's Matanzas oil terminal today, 02 Apr, marking the first major oil delivery to the island in about three months. The US administration has enforced a fuel blockade on Cuba but issued a waiver to permit this week's delivery for humanitarian reasons. Such decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, as per the Trump administration. Elsewhere, India has temporarily removed the import tax on 40 key petrochemicals to support various industries as domestic petrochemical output is now redirected towards LPG production. India’s Ministry of Finance has announced that they are offering full customs duty exemption on essential petrochemical products until 30 June 2026. In other news, a Trafigura spokesperson has claimed that contracts with Bolivia’s state-owned oil and gas company YPFB have not been ceased. This contradicts an earlier statement by Bolivia's Energy Minister, Mauricio Medinaceli. In Prague, Prime Minister Andrej Babis announced that the Czech government has agreed to cap fuel retailers' margins and reduce the excise tax to curb rising fuel prices. Turning to OPEC+, the group is likely to discuss another oil output increase at its upcoming meeting this Sunday (05 Apr). Finally, at the time of writing, the front-month (Jun/Jul) and 6-month (Jun/Dec) spreads are at $9.57/bbl and $29.19/bbl, respectively.
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