The Dec’24 Brent futures contract weakened amid choppy price action from $74.39/bbl at 07:00 BST to $74.35/bbl at 11:25 BST (time of writing). Price action showed volatility throughout the morning while Iran issued a warning to Israel against retaliation for Iran’s 01 Oct missile attack. In the news today, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hossein Salami, stated in a televised speech: “if you (Israel) commit any aggression against any point, we will painfully attack the same point of yours”. Meanwhile, Israel has intensified strikes on Eastern Lebanon, with the town of Al-Khiam hit by seven airstrikes in less than 10 minutes last night, according to the state-affiliated National News Agency. In other news, Oman’s state-owned upstream oil and gas operator, OQ Exploration and Production Company (OQEP), raised over $2 billion from its IPO on the Muscat Stock Exchange. According to Bloomberg, the OQEP deal is the biggest Gulf IPO since the $2.5 billion share sale of Adnoc in 2023. At the time of writing, the front month (Dec/Jan’25) and six-month (Dec/Jun’25) Brent futures spreads are at $0.44/bbl and $1.72/bbl, respectively.
