Oil
Ceasefire speculation sends brent to $62 per barrel
Media reports that the Trump administration is inching ever closer to a comprehensive peace deal between Russia and Ukraine has exerted additional pressure on crude prices, sending ICE Brent to $62 per barrel immediately after the first ABC News scoop came out.
Beyond peace talks, surging refinery margins have so far capped the downside for oil prices, but a plunge below $60 per barrel for all major benchmarks cannot be fully ruled out further down the line.
Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) is reportedly considering selling assets worth of billions of dollars to offset the impact of lower prices, looking to divest stakes in its oil export and storage terminals.
As the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission resumed the publishing of Commitment of Traders data, the first tranche of WTI hedge fund positioning data shows that the US crude futures moved net short for the first time in records dating back to 2007, OilPrice.com reports.
Meeting for a bilateral energy business forum in Beijing, Chinese and Russian authorities have confirmed talks to expand the former’s crude exports to China via Kazakhstan, in addition to the 1.4 million b/d seaborne and 0.7 million b/d direct pipeline flows.
Suriname is planning to offer 60% of its offshore territory for exploration, launching an ‘open-door offering’ to kickstart its own E&P drive similar to neighbouring Guyana, currently producing only 17,000 b/d from its onshore Tambaredjo field.
ADNOC, the national oil company of UAE’s Abu Dhabi, said that its oil reserves climbed 7 billion barrels to a total of 120 billion barrels, reinforcing its position as the 6th largest reserve holder globally, citing a boost in AI-powered appraisal.
Bangladesh’ state energy firm Petrobangla has decided to import 7 spot LNG cargoes over the upcoming weeks, financed by proceeds from an 82% hike in natural gas tariffs for fertilizer producers, seeking to restart its domestic urea production.
Chinese buyers have imported almost 400,000 b/d of (assumedly Iranian) crude oil from Indonesia, according to Beijing’s customs data that run contrary to Indonesia’s own statistics, showing a mere 25,000 tonnes of crude exports to China in all of 2025.
The Novatek-led Arctic LNG 2 project, under US sanctions since November 2023, has sent its first cargo via the Suez Canal to China, eyeing quicker delivery routes as the previously used delivery conduit via the Northern Sea Route froze up by now.
Canada’s miner Barrick Mining (TSO:ABX) said it had reached an agreement with the government of Mali over the Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex, dropping the arbitration case against the African state as it agreed to sign the 2023 mining code.
Continuously favorable arbitrage for copper has led to inventories of the red metal held in warehouses approved by the US Comex exchange exceeding 400,000 short tonnes for the first time in history, with futures still $250/mt above LME prices.
The Iranian government is planning to raise the price of its heavily subsidized gasoline ‘under limited conditions’, with Tehran seeking to avoid public protests as it lifts the price of fuel from $0.27 to $0.44 per litre for drivers who don’t own government smart cards.
Colombia’s Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) has warned of natural gas shortages in the country after protests from the indigenous Carrapinapule community jeopardized the physical integrity of staff at its Guajira field, currently producing some 70 MMCf/day.
Louisiana’s regulatory body has reissued a coastal use permit for the 9.5 mtpa Commonwealth LNG project after a state court ruling vacated it just a month ago, with environmentalists claiming it had a deficient climate impact assessment.
About The Author
