The Jun’25 Brent futures contract initially dipped this morning from around $74.50/bbl at 0730 BST down to a touch under $74.00/bbl at 0850 BST, however, has recovered marginally to $74.15/bbl at 1140 BST (time of writing). With Trump declaring April 2 as ‘Liberation Day’, uncertainty over potential tariffs has weighed on crude prices this morning. According to Bloomberg, Trump’s team is still finalising the size and scope of new levies with several proposals under consideration. In the news today, a group of 50 Republican and Democratic senators introduced a sanctions package to hit Russia and countries that buy its oil if President Putin refuses to engage in ceasefire negotiations or breaches any future agreement, following Russian overnight attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. This would include a 500% tariff on imports from countries buying Russian oil, petroleum products, natural gas or uranium. Meanwhile, the latest US sanctions on Venezuela have pushed the country’s oil exports down 11.5% in March m/m, as per Reuters. A total of 42 tankers left Venezuelan shores in March, with total daily exports at around 800kb. In other news, the White House is considering an Iranian proposal for indirect nuclear talks while boosting US forces in the Middle East in case Trump opts for military action, two US officials told Axios. Finally, Russia’s Transneft said it has suspended a mooring at the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk for 90 days after inspection by a transport watchdog. The Novorossiisk Commercial Sea Port (NCSP) says operations have been halted on oil loading Berth 8 at the Sheskharis terminal, which LSEG and industry sources say handled 100,000 tons of diesel in January-March, carrying exports to Turkey and Georgia primarily. At the time of writing, the Jun/Jul’25 and Jun/Dec’25 Brent futures stand at $0.77/bbl and $3.32/bbl, respectively.
