The Brent futures flat price for the April contract has seen a weaker afternoon, as prices fell from $82.23/bbl at 14:20 GMT to lows of $80.56/bbl at 16:45 GMT, before recovering slightly to just shy of the $81/bbl mark at 17:00 GMT.
An unmanned drone has reportedly crashed on the grounds of the Nevsky Mazut refinery near St Petersburg, causing an explosion and a blaze that has since been extinguished. This follows a flurry of drone attacks which have raised concerns about the security of Russian oil infrastructure. US officials have stated that the White House is preparing for a “military campaign in the Middle East which could last for several weeks”.
The EIA released its inventory report at 15:30 GMT. It announced a first crude build in three weeks, increasing by 1.2mbbls. This opposes both the projections set by the API stats released last night and analyst expectations, which equated to draws of 2.5mbbls and 1.1mbbls, respectively. Cushing storage saw its fourth decrease in a row, falling by another 2mbbls.
The Apr/May and Apr/Oct Brent futures spreads are at $0.30/bbl and $2.28/bbl, respectively.
Asian Refinery Margins: Q2-24: $9.74/bbl, Cal24: $9.50/bbl
Europe Refinery Margins: Q2-24: $8.13/bbl, Cal24: $7.17/bbl
