The May Brent futures contract has seen mixed price action this afternoon, initially around $82.19/bbl at noon before experiencing a sell-off down to $81.74/bbl, and subsequently rallying to $82.33/bbl at the time of writing (17:20 GMT). Today’s headlines reveal that Russia has recorded its highest weekly crude oil export volumes of the year, reaching 3.7 mbpd. This figure represents an increase of nearly 600,000 bpd compared to the previous week and exceeds its pledged export reduction for the quarter by 420,000 bpd, as indicated by tanker-tracking data monitored by Bloomberg on Tuesday. President Putin has also announced an additional production cut of 350,000 bpd for April, coupled with a reduction in exports to 121,000 bpd from the previously planned 500,000 bpd. The front and 6-month Brent futures spreads are at $0.48/bbl and $3.31 respectively.
