The Jan’26 Brent futures contract has risen this morning, from $63.70/bbl at 07:00 GMT to $64.43/bbl at 10:00 GMT (time of writing). According to LSEG data, loadings have resumed at Russia’s Novorossiysk port on Sunday, following a two-day suspension due to a Ukrainian attack last week. Over the weekend, the Ukrainian military confirmed hits on Russia’s Ryazan and Novokuibyshevsk oil refineries. Damages to primary processing units at Ryazan have been reported, though disruptions to Novokuibyshevsk are still being assessed, according to the Kyiv Independent. Elsewhere, China and India have ramped up their crude oil purchases, particularly of Middle Eastern cargoes. According to a Bloomberg report, these cargoes were sold at a discount, with China being the primary buyer. In other news, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended its deadline for completing transactions and entering contracts for the sale of international assets under Russia’s Lukoil until 13 Dec. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that India has exported its first jet fuel cargo to the US West Coast for Chevron, due to supply shortages in Los Angeles following an earlier fire at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery (capacity 285kb/d). According to Reuters’ shipbroker sources, roughly 473kb of aviation fuel was loaded at Reliance’s Jamnagar port and is expected to arrive in the first half of December. Finally, at the time of writing, the front-month Jan/Feb’26 and 6-month Jan/Jul’26 spreads are at $0.44/bbl and $1.05/bbl, respectively.
