The Brent futures flat price for the prompt contract has seen a relatively choppy, yet weak, morning. Price action weakened from $83/bbl handles at 06:35 GMT to $82.34/bbl at 09:55 GMT, despite a small spike to $82.82/bbl at 09:30 GMT. As a consequence of the ongoing Red Sea tensions, Chinese booking for tankers carrying crude oil from the Persian Gulf has risen this week, with at least 10 VLCC provisionally booked from the Persian Gulf to China. BP has joined Shell in plans to reduce crude consumption in Germany from 2025, scaling back its oil-refining operations in the country on the back of higher costs and declining demand for fuels. Chevron has restarted drilling in the Petroindependencia field in Venezuela, with the goal of drilling 30 new wells through 2025, which is projected to produce as many as 400kbbls/d at full capacity. The front and 6-month Brent futures spreads are at $0.73/bbl and $3.89/bbl, respectively.
