Oil
Brent Breaks Below $60 on Oversupply Fears
In times when traded volumes are low amidst pre-Christmas preparations, relatively innocuous news on weak Chinese macroeconomic data can sway the sentiment more than in normal periods.
China’s industrial output dropped to its lowest since August 2024, triggering a price slump in Brent futures first below $61 per barrel and ultimately below $60 per barrel today, OilPrice.com reports.
Venezuela is the only immediate bullish factor as we head into the last weeks of 2025.
US asset manager Kimmeridge, developer of the 9.5 mtpa Commonwealth LNG project, has offered to buy shale gas producer Ascent Resources for $6 billion as one of Ascent’s private equity owners was accused of self-dealing, triggering intense speculation.
European carbon prices surged to €85 per mtCO2, the highest since October 2023, as the December 2025 contract expired this week and opened up prompt trading for next year when the EU will cut annual auctioned allowances by 52 million.
The US Treasury has rejected a 22 billion cashless bid from investment bank Xtellus to buy the foreign assets of Russian oil major Lukoil (MCX:LKOH) in return for the company’s securities held by American investors before sanctions were imposed in 2022-23.
The Venezuelan government accused the United States of orchestrating a cyber attack against its state oil company PDVSA, ordering administrative and operational workers to disconnect from the company’s systems and limit access to indirect workers.
Meeting with oil refiners this week, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak signalled that Moscow might extend the current gasoline export ban and keep diesel export restrictions, even though retail gas prices dipped recently to $3.28 per gallon.
Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, owner of the 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery, accused Nigeria’s regulators of ‘checkmating’ domestic refiners by incentivizing imports, calling for an official inquiry into the head of the country’s downstream regulatory body.
China’s coal production recovered in November to tally 426.79 million tonnes, an eight-month high after output in the summer months was hindered by tightened security checks, putting the 2025 total at a whopping 4.4 billion tonnes.
Reciprocating for a recent US seizure of an Iran-bound vessel, Iranian authorities seized a foreign tanker in the Gulf of Oman that they claim carried 6 million litres of smuggled diesel fuel (a mere 38,000 barrels), detaining 18 crew members of the ship.
Shell’s (LON:SHEL) head of mergers and acquisitions Greg Gut has reportedly left the London-based major after the company’s CEO and top executives blocked his proposal to take over oil rival BP (NYSE:BP), saying it would derail Shell’s corporate strategy.
The European Union slapped personal sanctions on traders that are believed to be dealing with Russian oil and product volumes, including former Glencore trader Murtaza Lakhani and several Azerbaijani individuals from the 2Rivers trading company.
The Kazakh government expects a ruling in its ongoing $3.5 billion arbitration case against the international consortium developing the Karachaganak field before year-end, claiming it seeks to rein in costs inflated by Western majors.
Leading shareholders of Korea’s top smelter Korea Zinc (KRX:010130) have asked a Seoul court to block the company’s planned sale of new shares, seeking to finance its $7.4 billion investment into a US zinc/copper smelter in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Pakistan is reportedly in negotiations with Russia on a potential oil sector agreement, seeking to boost crude imports after this year saw a total collapse of Russian flows (compared to 6 million barrels in 2024) into the debt-ridden Middle Eastern country.
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