The Apr’25 Brent futures contract crept up overnight and has continued to improve this morning, rising from $74.30/bbl at 0100 GMT to reach $74.92/bbl at 1015 GMT (time of writing) after meeting resistance around $75.00/bbl in the past couple of hours. Private oil refiners in China cut rates to 43.64%, the lowest since March 2020, as US sanctions on Russian crude disrupt their key supply of ESPO oil and high freight costs are squeezing refiners across Asia. Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned new US sanctions as unjustified and illegal, holding Washington accountable for the consequences. The sanctions target entities in China, India, and the UAE for allegedly aiding Iran’s oil trade, reinforcing the Maximum Pressure campaign against Tehran. The transit of Russian oil through the southern Druzhba pipeline via Ukraine fell 15% in 2024 to 11.5 million mt. Hungary’s imports remained steady at 4.8 million mt, while Slovakia and Czechia saw declines. Germany and Poland stopped buying Russian oil in 2023, with Germany now receiving 1.5 million mt from Kazakhstan via the northern Druzhba route. At the time of writing, the Apr/May and 6-month (Apr/Oct) Brent Futures spreads are at $0.49/bbl and $2.62/bbl respectively.
