Oil
Supply disruption lifts brent back to $65
Supply disruptions have overshadowed Trump’s Greenland antics this week in the oil markets, with a fire debilitating Kazakhstan’s largest oil field, to the extent that ICE Brent has strengthened to $65 per barrel again. Macroeconomics could dampen that bullish sentiment soon, particularly with the IEA report coming out later this week, however, if Tengiz fails to return by the end of January, curbed Kazakh supply could prompt further pricing upside.
According to S&P Global, a mid-February cargo of light sweet WTI lifted by Gunvor was sold at a record premium of $3.60 per barrel over Dated Brent, the highest price for a US cargo since the inclusion of the grade in the Brent basket more than two years ago, OilPrice.com reports.
China’s refinery throughput climbed to an all-time high in 2025, averaging 14.8 million b/d across the year (equivalent to a 4% year-over-year increase), driven by the ramp-up of giant private refiner Yulong and better margins for state-owned refiners.
Syria’s new government under President al-Sharaa is set to regain full control over oil and gas fields in the Kurdish-controlled northeastern provinces, consolidating some 100,000 b/d of crude output from the Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa and Hasakah fields.
The Chevron-operated (NYSE:CVX) TCO joint venture operating the supergiant 700,000 b/d Tengiz field onshore Kazakhstan stated that it had suspended production as a ‘precautionary measure’ after a fire broke out at the field’s power distribution systems.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has announced that the Trump administration is moving ‘as fast as it can’ to expand the production license of US major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) in Venezuela, currently producing some 240,000 b/d.
Key stakeholders of Canada’s $29 billion LNG Canada project, UK-based major Shell (LON:SHEL) and Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi (TYO:8058), are reportedly considering sale options for their respective stakes – 40% and 15% – in the project.
Russia’s loadings of ultra-low sulphur diesel (ULSD) from the Baltic port of Primorsk are set to exceed 2.2 million tonnes (510,000 b/d), the highest monthly level since January 2024, in a sign that the country’s refinery runs are recovering from Ukraine’s drone hits.
An explosion at a steel plate factory in China’s Inner Mongolia province, killing six workers, prompted fears of imminent safety checks at the country’s plants and dragged iron ore futures traded on the Dalian Exchange lower to ¥789 per metric tonne ($113/mt).
The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) reported that Norway’s liquids production beat official forecasts by 1.9% in December, coming in at 4.5 million boe/d, buoyed by rising crude oil output that jumped to 1.96 million b/d, up 9% month-on-month.
Workers at Peru’s state oil firm Petroperu launched a 3-day strike this week to protest plans to privatize parts of the company, potentially impacting the $6 billion Talara refinery that ultimately led to the company’s net debt soaring to $5.5 billion.
The Philippines has reported its first natural gas discovery in more than a decade, finding commercial volumes of gas with its Malampaya East-1 exploration well, next to the ageing Malampaya field that remains the nation’s largest asset.
As Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez is pushing through a Trump-inspired set of hydrocarbon law amendments, it transpired that less than half (14.8 GW) of Venezuela’s 30 GW nameplate power generation capacity is operational.
Hungary’s state-controlled oil firm MOL (BUD:MOL) has reached a provisional agreement with Russia’s Gazprom Neft to buy its majority 56.2% stake in Serbian oil refiner NIS with the deal subject to the US Treasury Department’s OFAC approval.
About The Author
