The June Brent futures contract has seen a strong rally this morning, opening around $88/bbl handles and rising quickly to settle around $89/bbl at 10:30 BST. In the headlines, Ukraine has struck one of Russia’s biggest refineries with a drone 1,300 km from the front lines in Ukraine and said it had inflicted significant damage on a military target, hitting the primary oil refining unit, CDU-7, at the Taneco refinery, according to Reuters. The region’s head, Rustam Minnikhanov, confirmed that there had been drone strikes but claimed there was no serious damage or disruption to industrial output. In other news, Chevron has initiated its 2024 drilling initiative in Venezuela, commencing with the first of 17 wells slated for drilling. This effort aims to enhance production levels, as outlined in a statement by PDVSA, Venezuela’s state oil company and co-owner of the joint venture. The new wells are expected to increase Chevron’s total output with PDVSA in Venezuela by 35% to 250 kbpd by next year. The Jun/Jul and Jun/Dec spreads are at $1.08/bbl and $5.47/bbl respectively.
