Ice Brent crude futures traded higher in early Asian trading hours after the US blocked an attempted sale of sanctioned Russian firm Lukoil's international business.
At 04:00 GMT, the Ice front-month January Brent contract was at $63.61/bl, up by 23¢/bl from its settlement on 6 November when the contract ended 14¢/bl lower.
The Nymex front-month December crude contract was at $59.68/bl, higher by 25¢/bl from its settlement on 6 November when the contract ended 17¢/bl lower.
US sanctions enforcers have shot down trading firm Gunvor's bid to purchase Russian oil company Lukoil's international business.
"President [Donald] Trump has been clear that the war must end immediately," the US Treasury Department said via a social media post. "As long as [Russian president Vladimir] Putin continues the senseless killings, the Kremlin's puppet, Gunvor, will never get a licence to operate and profit."
Treasury imposed sanctions on Lukoil on 22 October, giving foreign companies until 21 November to wind down business with Russia's second-largest producer and exporter.
Lukoil last week said it had accepted an offer from Gunvor to buy Lukoil International, an Austria-registered subsidiary that holds the group's overseas assets. Lukoil said it had committed not to negotiate with other potential buyers.
Gunvor said it will withdraw its bid for Lukoil's assets following the Treasury decision. Gunvor called the statement "fundamentally misinformed and false" and said it would "welcome the opportunity to ensure this clear misunderstanding is corrected".
Elsewhere, Thailand's state-owned PTT bought a cargo of Guyana's newest crude grade, Golden Arrowhead, for December loading, according to multiple sources, marking the first Guyana crude shipment to Thailand.
Most Guyanese crude finds an outlet in Europe and is generally considered too expensive to compete with west African, Mideast Gulf and other alternatives in the Asian market. But Guyanese differentials dropped earlier this week by over $1/bl relative to North Sea Dated, which likely opened arbitrage to Asia-Pacific.
Refiners in Asia-Pacific are poised to request larger volumes of December-loading term crude from state-controlled Saudi Aramco, after the firm sharply cut its official formula prices for the region.
The reductions will prompt refiners in northeast Asia — namely China, Japan and South Korea — to increase their collective December requests by 500,000–650,000 b/d from November, market sources said.
Ukraine drone strikes on Russian refineries continue, with attacks on Lukoil's 290,000 b/d Volgograd refinery and the southern Novoshakhtinsk region on 6 November. Novoshakhtinsk is the location of a 100,000 b/d refinery.
Since 30 October, several Russian areas with refineries have experienced attack alerts or airport shutdowns — often related to drone activity — including Orenburg, Samara, Saratov and Krasnodar, and the cities of Ufa and Nizhnekamsk.
Ice Brent crude futures traded higher in early Asian trading hours after the US blocked an attempted sale of sanctioned Russian firm Lukoil's international business.
At 04:00 GMT, the Ice front-month January Brent contract was at $63.61/bl, up by 23¢/bl from its settlement on 6 November when the contract ended 14¢/bl lower.
The Nymex front-month December crude contract was at $59.68/bl, higher by 25¢/bl from its settlement on 6 November when the contract ended 17¢/bl lower.
US sanctions enforcers have shot down trading firm Gunvor's bid to purchase Russian oil company Lukoil's international business.
"President [Donald] Trump has been clear that the war must end immediately," the US Treasury Department said via a social media post. "As long as [Russian president Vladimir] Putin continues the senseless killings, the Kremlin's puppet, Gunvor, will never get a licence to operate and profit."
Treasury imposed sanctions on Lukoil on 22 October, giving foreign companies until 21 November to wind down business with Russia's second-largest producer and exporter.
Lukoil last week said it had accepted an offer from Gunvor to buy Lukoil International, an Austria-registered subsidiary that holds the group's overseas assets. Lukoil said it had committed not to negotiate with other potential buyers.
Gunvor said it will withdraw its bid for Lukoil's assets following the Treasury decision. Gunvor called the statement "fundamentally misinformed and false" and said it would "welcome the opportunity to ensure this clear misunderstanding is corrected".
Elsewhere, Thailand's state-owned PTT bought a cargo of Guyana's newest crude grade, Golden Arrowhead, for December loading, according to multiple sources, marking the first Guyana crude shipment to Thailand.
Most Guyanese crude finds an outlet in Europe and is generally considered too expensive to compete with west African, Mideast Gulf and other alternatives in the Asian market. But Guyanese differentials dropped earlier this week by over $1/bl relative to North Sea Dated, which likely opened arbitrage to Asia-Pacific.
Refiners in Asia-Pacific are poised to request larger volumes of December-loading term crude from state-controlled Saudi Aramco, after the firm sharply cut its official formula prices for the region.
The reductions will prompt refiners in northeast Asia — namely China, Japan and South Korea — to increase their collective December requests by 500,000–650,000 b/d from November, market sources said.
Ukraine drone strikes on Russian refineries continue, with attacks on Lukoil's 290,000 b/d Volgograd refinery and the southern Novoshakhtinsk region on 6 November. Novoshakhtinsk is the location of a 100,000 b/d refinery.
Since 30 October, several Russian areas with refineries have experienced attack alerts or airport shutdowns — often related to drone activity — including Orenburg, Samara, Saratov and Krasnodar, and the cities of Ufa and Nizhnekamsk.
By YouLiang Chay