This afternoon witnessed another win for the crude bulls amid the May Brent futures contract rallying to $87.60/bbl at 17:25 GMT (time of writing). The contract hit its highest value since October 2023, with players happy to add length alongside news on lower crude exports from Saudi Arabia and Iran and positive demand-side signals from China. In other news, US oil production is expected to grow to exceed 14 mbpd and then plateau, as per ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance at the CERAWeek energy conference. ExxonMobil is reportedly set to bring Delaware Basin oil output to 2 mbpd by 2027 from its 2017 Bass acquisition, while also accelerating production in Guyana. Market participants will be on the lookout for US crude and refined products inventory data due to be announced by the API tonight at 20:30 GMT and the EIA tomorrow at 14:30 GMT. Finally, the front-month and six-month Brent spreads are currently at $0.76/bbl and $4.58/bbl, respectively.
