The front-month Brent futures contract saw a very volatile afternoon. Prices fell by $1.96/bbl down to $65.50/bbl at15:16 BST and jumped back up to $66.74/bbl at 17.30 BST (time of writing). The nearly $2.00/bbl drop comes as Kazakhstan stirs tensions within OPEC+ by declaring it will prioritize national interests over group quotas. Energy Minister Erlan Akkenzhenov said Kazakhstan can’t cut output at major projects run by foreign firms like Chevron and ExxonMobil, which make up 70% of the country’s production. This stance clashes with OPEC+ efforts to rein in overproduction, especially after the group admitted to a 457kb/d surplus. In a further statement, Kazakhstan then said to be committed to constructive work with OPEC+, causing a $0.83/bbl jump in flatprice. In other news, Sinopec has resumed buying Russian ESPO crude for May after halting purchases in March and April due to U.S. sanctions concerns. While major Chinese refiners had paused or cut Russian imports, independent refiners continued buying. As a result, China’s crude imports jumped to over 12 mb/d in March, the highest since August 2023, with increased flows from Russia and Iran. US crude inventories unexpectedly rose by 244 kb last week as imports surged, despite forecasts for a draw. Cushing stocks fell slightly, while net imports jumped by 1.14 mb/d. Gasoline and distillate stocks dropped sharply, by 4.5 mb and 2.4 mb respectively, well above expectations. Refinery runs and utilization also increased. Jet fuel demand hit its highest four-week average since December. 2019, signalling strong product demand despite trade tensions. Finally, the front month Jun/Jul spreads and the 6-month Jun/Dec spreads are at $0.96/bbl and $2.62/bbl respctively.
