The Jul’25 Brent futures contract saw a volatile afternoon, trading between $63.91/bbl at 13:02 BST and $63.10/bbl at 17:38 BST (time of writing). In the news, Scotland's only oil refinery at Grangemouth has permanently stopped processing crude oil after 100 years of operation, following a decision announced in 2024 by owner Petroineos. The site will now function as an import and distribution hub for fuels. The closure, attributed to competition from modern refineries in Asia and the Middle East, has led to 430 job losses, with around 70 staff remaining. India is significantly increasing its imports of US crude oil ...

The Dated Brent market continues to drift lower, with the May'25 DFL falling from a high of over $1.40/bbl last Wednesday (23 Apr) to $0.70/bbl at the time of writing on 29 Apr. Simultaneously, the lower crude levels have supported the M1 European refinery margin, which strengthened from $6.75/bbl on 23 Apr to $8.10/bbl at the time of writing. We saw banks selling the DFL to hedge these high margin levels, which drift higher as Dated Brent weakens further.

The Jul’25 Brent futures contract initially rallied to $65.81/bbl at 14:30 BST before falling off to $64.37/bbl at 17:50 BST (time of writing). In the news, a massive power outage hit Spain and Portugal, disrupting flights, traffic, hospitals, and businesses. Power started returning in parts of Spain, but full restoration could take hours. Several Spanish oil refineries, including both operated by Moeve and Petronor's Bilbao refinery shut down. Moeve, owned by Mubadala and Carlyle Group, confirmed its plants were halted, while Repsol, Spain's largest refinery operator, has not yet replied to a Reuters request for comment. Greek shipowners are re-entering ...

Click below to explore our new Refinery Margins Report, offering a clear, detailed analysis of weekly and monthly shifts in key regional refinery margins. This report enables readers to pinpoint where margins are tightening or loosening across regions, drawing on proprietary yields and our leading market share in swaps to build a world class financial refinery margin—essential for understanding the evolving landscape of regional refinery economics.

Click below to explore our ETFs report, providing a detailed analysis of price movements, trading volume, and counterparty shifts in ETF underlyings, along with open interest trends in the options market. Featured funds include USO, SCO, UCO, KOLD, BOIL, and UNG. For each ETF, we offer a comprehensive breakdown of price trends, volume, open interest, and key market participants.

The Jun’25 Brent Futures saw prices slowly rally from $65.57/bbl at 12:30 BST up to $66.86/bbl at 18:32 BST (time of writing). In the news, US refiner Phillips 66 reported a larger-than-expected first-quarter loss due to lower refining margins and major turnaround activities at its plants. The refining unit posted a $937 million loss, compared to a $216 million profit a year earlier, with realized margins falling 38% to $6.81/bbl. Crude capacity utilization dropped to 80% from 92% last year. In other news, Iraq has sent a delegation to Syria to discuss reviving an oil pipeline that once carried crude ...

In this publication, we leverage Onyx's proprietary Commitment of Traders data in order to identify changes in swap Open Interest and Positioning against Onyx with a view, in conjunction with long/short entry price levels and volatility analysis to identify potential continuation or reversal trends. In this seventh edition, we take a look at the May'25 Sing 92 Crack swap. 

The Jun’25 Brent Futures contract saw prices rangebound between $67.00/bbl and $66.50/bbl for most of the afternoon before falling off to $65.95 at 17:09 BST. Prices have since climbed back to $66.52/bbl at 17:43 BST (time of writing). In the news, Chevron plans to drill its first exploration well in Namibia’s Walvis Basin in 2026 or 2027, following its acquisition of an 80% stake and operatorship in Petroleum Exploration License 82 (PEL 82). The move aligns with Chevron’s broader strategy to expand its exploration portfolio in under-explored regions. PEL 82 lies north of Namibia’s Orange Basin, where Shell, TotalEnergies, and ...