The July Brent Futures flat price has had a fairly rangebound afternoon. Having risen to a daily high of $84.35/bbl at 12:00 BST, it is has seen a steady decline to twice fall to $83.50/bbl at both 14:25 BST and 17:00 BST, interspersed with two mini-peaks of around $84.05/bbl. Since the second low, the price has seen a small rally to $83.90/bbl, where it currently resides as of 17:20 BST (time of writing). A Ukrainian drone strike hit an oil facility in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan after flying a record distance of 1,500km. China’s first oil shipment from Niger has been stymied by a border dispute, with Benin blocking the shipment after Niger refused to open the countries’ land border, potentially placing into jeopardy Niger’s plans to ship 90kbbls/d to China in May. Australia’s oil product demand rose by 99kbbls/d to 1,125kbbls/d, a 5-year seasonal high. Mercedes Benz’s CEO Ola Kallenius has announced he no longer sees a full transformation to EVs by 2030 for the firm as they fail to boost its profit. This could be a potential harbinger for other major automotive players that have pursued a similar strategy to follow suit. Petrobras have been ordered by Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama to perform a series of studies on the viability of the company’s planned offshore drilling in the Foz do Amazonas region, which will assess the project’s impact on Indigenous groups in the region. The front and 6-month spreads are $0.59/bbl and $3.45/bbl, respectively.
