Mita Chaturvedi
Research Associate, Flux
Brent sits above $101/bbl
Iran launched another attack at Israel, a day after US President Donald Trump said Iran and the US had “good and productive” talks,...
Published: March 24, 2026
Written by:
Mita Chaturvedi
4 page report
The May’26 Brent futures contract climbed to $104.27/bbl around 04:10 GMT, but eased subsequently. Although prices remain choppy, we continue to see support at the critical $100/bbl handle, which prices briefly slipped below between 18:00 GMT and 20:00 GMT on 23 Mar. At the time of writing (10:45 GMT), prices stand at $101.20/bbl. Iran launched another attack at Israel....
Iran launched another attack at Israel, a day after US President Donald Trump said Iran and the US had “good and productive” talks, a claim that Iran has denied, stating no talks had been held. Meanwhile, despite Trump’s statement that no Iranian power plants or energy infrastructure would be hit for 5 days, overnight, Iranian media has reported a US-Israeli offensive on gas infrastructure in Iran’s Isfahan province and southwestern city of Khorramshahr. Meanwhile, India’s Reliance Industries has purchased 5mb of Iranian crude from the National Iranian Oil Co. A source of Reuters said the crude was priced at a premium of $7/bbl to Brent futures, but it is not clear when this oil is set to deliver. This marks India's first purchase of Iranian oil since it halted imports from Iran in May 2019. In Australia, several hundred fuel stations are either out of gasoline or diesel, despite ministers claiming the market is well supplied, as per local media. As a result, Australian energy minister Chris Bowel said the government has lowered the diesel flashpoint from 61.5 degrees Celsius to 60.5 degrees Celsius for six months to access supply from markets with marginally lower burning temperatures, such as the US, Canada and Europe. This comes after the government previously lowered petrol standards for 60 days, which was expected to add an extra 100 million litres to the local market. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that Japan will tap joint oil stockpiles held by producing nations in the country by the end of March, after previously releasing privately held reserves on 16 Mar. In China, Sinopec will step up its shale oil development in the Bohai Bay basin after a successful pilot project, as per Chairman Hou Qijun. Last year, Sinopec pumped close to 7.3mb of oil from the Jiyang trough in the basin’s Shengli field. Finally, at the time of writing, the May/Jun’26 and May/Nov’26 Brent futures spreads stand at $3.62/bbl and $17.17/bbl, respectively.
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