The prompt May 25 Brent Futures contract saw continued support from this morning’s window, slowly rising to $73.36/bbl at 14:35 GMT before rapidly falling to $72.32/bbl at 15:40 GMT only to further fall to $71.22/bbl at 18:20 (time of writing). The sudden drop in price comes as OPEC+ announces an increase of 138,000 b/d. Kazakhstan increased crude oil and gas condensate production by 13% in February to a record 2.12mb/d, again exceeding its OPEC+ quota. Crude oil alone rose 15.5% to 1.83 mb/d. Despite its commitment to cut output and compensate for overproduction, Kazakhstan continues to boost production at its largest oilfield, Tengiz. In other news, China certified 1.3 billion barrels of new shale oil reserves, but extraction is difficult due to deep, complex geology. Nonetheless, Sinopec urges government support to boost domestic production and reduce reliance on foreign energy. The May/June’25 and May/Nov’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $ 0.47/bbl and $ 2.28/bbl respectively.
