The Apr’25 Brent futures flat price contract weakened this afternoon. The contract was initially more rangebound between $75.15/bbl and $75.50/bbl but fell to $75/bbl at 15:40 GMT. Despite first seeing support at this level, the contract weakened to $74.60/bbl at 16:35 GMT but finally climbed to $74.85/bbl at 17:45 GMT (time of writing). This weakness comes alongside an 8.6mb increase in US crude oil inventories in the week ending 31 Jan against median estimates of a 1.9mb build. Gasoline stocks saw a 2.23mb increase in stocks against estimates of a 210kb build, while distillate fuel oil inventories fell by 5.47mb against an estimated decline of 2mb. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged OPEC members to unite against possible US sanctions on Iran after Donald Trump said he would seek to drive Iran’s oil exports to zero. Moreover, Donald Trump’s declaration that the US will “take over” Gaza met global condemnation, with Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry saying that the kingdom will reject any attempt to displace Palestinians and the French foreign ministry calling a forced displacement “a serious violation of international law”. In other news, French major TotalEnergies has beat Q4’24 expectations, with an adjusted net income of $4.4 billion, down 15% y/y but slightly higher from Q3’24’s $4.1 billion. Finally, at the time of writing, the Apr/May’25 and Apr/Oct’25 Brent futures spreads stood at $0.55/bbl and $2.96/bbl, respectively.
