After this morning’s strength, Mar’25 Brent futures declined from just under $79.90/bbl at 1120 GMT down to this afternoon’s low of $78.87/bbl at 1500 GMT, recovering to $79.45/bbl at 1750 GMT (time of writing). Crude oil prices saw bearish sentiment amid waning geopolitical risk, with the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire likely to be extended beyond next week, as per Bloomberg. In the news today, US President Donald Trump said he would add new tariffs to his sanctions threat against Russia if the country does not make a deal to end the war in Ukraine, Reuters reports. Trump added that tariffs could also be applied to “other participating countries”, currently threatening a 10% tariff on China. In other news, Motiva’s 630kb/d Port Arthur refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast has shut multiple units due to winter storms. Meanwhile, the ports of Houston and Galveston remain shut as Freeport opens, as per Bloomberg. Finally, CNOOC said today that its net oil and gas production was about 720mb of oil equivalent for 2024, setting a record high for the sixth consecutive year. The company aims to maintain stable capital expenditure for 2025 while reaching a net production target of 760mb to 780mb. At the time of writing, the Mar/Apr’25 and Mar/Sep’25 Brent futures spreads stand at $0.88/bbl and $4.17/bbl, respectively.
