After ending on a high note on Feb 26, the May Brent futures contract kept its upward momentum with prices hovering around the $81.50/bbl mark. Despite the contract initially softening to a low of $81.43/bbl at 9:15 GMT, it recovered higher to trade at $81.67/bbl at 10:00 GMT (time of writing). Apr WTI saw similar price action and was at $77.73/bbl at 10:00 GMT.
Russia announced it would suspend gasoline exports starting in March. This halt will last for six months on the back of demand peaking for oil products at this time of the year. The ban is also due to many refineries extending their maintenance season.
Exxon and Chevron are in talks about a transfer of the Hess Corp Guyanese project stake from Chevron to Exxon. Chevron had agreed to acquire Hess for $53bn in October 2023, the latter having over 30% stake in the Guyanese Stabroek Block, which was one of the main reasons for the acquisition by Chevron. However, Exxon claims to be entitled to the Stabroek Block value created as it already has a 45% stake in the project. This potential transfer of stake could render Chevron’s acquisition of Hess pointless.
API data will be released at 21:30 GMT today, with expectations of a 1.8mbbls crude build.
The May/Jun and May/Nov Brent spreads currently stand at $0.60/bbl and $3.39/bbl, respectively.
