The front-month Brent futures contract was rangebound around $74.75/bbl and $75/bbl all morning before rising to $75.15/bbl at 10:23 GMT, where it met resistance and softened to $74.90/bbl at 10:50 GMT (time of writing). This rangebound price action comes as the market monitors the development of a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, are travelling to Saudi Arabia to discuss the war in Ukraine with Russian officials, with these talks reportedly beginning on Tuesday. US officials will reportedly speak to Ukrainian officials separately, with Kyiv not invited to Saudi Arabia this week. Ukraine has also notably rejected the US’ bid to own 50% of Ukrainian rare earth metals and seeks to negotiate a better deal. In other news, producer group OPEC+ is reportedly considering postponing the return of their latest oil cuts, which were scheduled to return to the market in April. However, no further details have been provided yet on this matter. In macro news, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said in an interview that inflation was slowing in the UK and that an expected increase in price growth in 2025 was unlikely to embed longer-term inflation pressures. Finally, at the time of writing, the Apr/May’25 and Apr/Oct’25 Brent futures spreads currently stand at $0.25/bbl and $2.16/bbl.
