The May Brent futures has slightly softened this morning with the contract opening below the $83/bbl mark and hovering around the same levels for the rest of the morning. At 10:00 GMT (time of writing), the contract was seen trading at $82.75/bbl.
China said it was committing to reduce the energy intensity of its economy by 2.4% this year. Last year, China set a 2% target for a reduction in energy consumption per unit of GDP. However, it failed to reach the goal. The country had set itself a 13.5% target reduction in energy intensity between 2021 and 2025 as well as an emissions intensity reduction of 18%. Both are also about to be missed.
Exxon and Malaysia’s state-run Petronas announced they would extend gas exploration off the coast of Suriname. The current exploration is not as successful as the Guyanese undertakings due to the two companies discovering a gas well in 2020 that was not commercially attractive. If the new well is proven to be viable, production would commence around 2031 at the earliest.
The front and 6-month Brent futures spreads are at $0.73/bbl and $3.81/bbl respectively.
