The Jun’25 Brent crude futures initially grinded lower on Wednesday afternoon but found support at $74/bbl and rebounded to $75/bbl by 17:30 BST (time of writing). Today’s low of $73.85/bbl aligned with the 50-day moving average, a level of support. EIA stats indicated a 6.2mb build in crude in the week ending 28 March, while gasoline stocks fell by 1.6mb. In the news, Petrobras has made significant new oil discoveries in Brazil’s Campos, Santos, and Buzios basins, potentially accelerating peak production timelines by a year, according to its exploration chief. Norway’s financial regulator has uncovered that Romarine AS, a firm linked to Russia, issued fake insurance documents for sanctioned oil tankers in Russia’s shadow fleet, prompting a police investigation into unlicensed activity and document forgery. Russia has restricted Black Sea oil export infrastructure from the CPC following Ukrainian drone strikes on key facilities, impacting terminals used by Chevron and ExxonMobil, though Kazakhstan says flows remain unaffected. Nigeria has appointed Bashir Ojulari, former head of Shell Nigeria Exploration, as the new CEO of NNPC Ltd. to boost oil output and advance the company’s long-delayed IPO, amid ongoing challenges including a Senate probe, rising fuel prices, and renewed infrastructure attacks. Finally, the front (Jun/Jul) and 6-month (Jun/Dec) Brent futures spreads are at $0.80/bbl and $3.34/bbl respectively.
