The Apr’25 Brent futures contract witnessed a weaker afternoon, softening from $77.20/bbl at 14:10 GMT to $75.15/bbl at 15:25 GMT. The contract found support at this level and climbed to $75.75/bbl at 17:20 GMT (the time of writing). After speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, US President Donald Trump said that he would pause tariffs planned for Mexico by a month and that negotiations would continue to reach a “deal” between the neighbours. Trump is also reportedly drafting a proposal to hit the European Union with 10% tariffs. In other news, OPEC+ has agreed to gradually maintain its schedule to increase output starting in April. The producer group has also removed the EIA and Rystad Energy from its secondary sources to monitor members’ compliance with output cuts, adding figures from Kpler, OilX and ESAI Energy instead. Nigeria’s upstream oil regulator has stated that it will deny export permits for oil cargoes from producers who fail to meet their supply quotas to local refineries, including the Dangote refinery. Colombia’s Ecopetrol has reached an agreement to renew its joint venture with Occidental Petroleum in the Permian Basin. In its long-term demand outlook, Vitol said that global oil demand in 2040 will likely be close to current levels, forecasting an initial rise in demand in this decade to be offset by a decline in the late 2030s. Finally, at the time of writing, the Apr/May’25 and Apr/Oct’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.67/bbl and $3.41/bbl, respectively.
