The Jan’26 Brent futures contract saw a little support in the early morning, from $62.34/bbl at 01.11 GMT, to $62.80/bbl at 07.10 GMT. The contract has softened since, to $62.50/bbl at 09.21 GMT (time of writing). The API reported a rise of 1.3mb in US crude stockpiles in the week to 07 Nov. They saw a 1.4mb w/w draw in gasoline stocks and a 944kb build in distillates. The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced that contracts have been awarded for the acquisition of approximately one million barrels of crude oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The contracts awarded on 12 Nov are for deliveries beginning in December 2025 through January 2026 to the Bryan Mound site. Pakistan’s OGDCL has been provisionally awarded exploration rights for eight offshore blocks in Pakistan’s Indus and Makran basins after an October bidding round. The company will operate two Indus Basin blocks and partner with PPL, Mari Energies, and Prime Global Energies on the rest, holding stakes of 23–32%. Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi met with Indian officials, including Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and Ambassador Suresh K. Reddy, to discuss expanding cooperation and investment in petrochemicals and mining. The talks built on the progress made during the recent Egypt–India Strategic Dialogue, focusing on enhancing fertilizer production and exploring joint ventures targeting regional markets. India has introduced a new royalty scheme for critical minerals, shifting to percentage-based payments on sales for graphite and setting new rates for caesium, zirconium, and rubidium. The move aims to boost local production and cut reliance on Chinese imports. It follows a $1.9 billion government plan to expand domestic supplies for key industries like electronics, defense, and batteries. At the time of writing, the front-month Jan/Feb’26 and 6-month Jan/Jul’26 spreads are $0.26/bbl and $0.37/bbl, respectively.
