As Russia-Ukraine peace talks drag on, dampening last week’s hopes that a swift resolution could be around the corner, ICE Brent has settled comfortably around $63 per barrel by the end of this week.
Low US traded volumes on the back of Thanksgiving, exacerbated by a once-in-a-decade CME blackout, have added to the pricing lull. OPEC+ is an unlikely candidate to sway sentiment in either direction as the November 30 meeting is widely expected to result in a rollover.
OPEC+ Expected to Roll Over Production Quotas. As OPEC+ countries meet this Sunday to discuss production plans for January 2026, the market expectation is that the so-called ‘Great Eight’ will keep its quota unchanged compared to December, concurrently mulling respective members’ capacity.
CME Outage Disrupts WTI Trading. Cooling issues with the CyrusOne data center in Dallas have led to the world’s largest exchange operator, CME, halting trade on its platforms, disrupting trading of WTI futures on Friday in a market that routinely trades 26 million contracts per day.
Syria Plans Major Upstream Recovery. The government of Syria has announced plans to boost crude production in the embattled country to 200,000 b/d, doubling current output rates, alongside downstream expansion plans that include the construction of a new 150,000 b/d refinery.
Canada Doubles Down on Pacific Egress. Canada’s federal government signed a memorandum of understanding with the province of Alberta to build a new oil pipeline wielding a whopping 1 million b/d capacity to connect oil sands to the Pacific Ocean, with construction expected to start in 2029.
Africa’s Most Recent Military Coup Derails Oil Ambitions. A military coup led by General Horta Nta Na Man toppled the president of Guinea-Bissau, sending shockwaves across upstream markets as US major Chevron (NYSE: CVX) signed a major two-block exploration deal less than a month ago.
Argentina Pulls in Partners to Boost Uruguay Drilling. Argentina’s state oil firm YPF has reached an agreement with Italy’s ENI for a farm-in into its offshore exploration venture in neighbouring Uruguay, hoping to replicate the success of Namibia’s Orange Basin, which has similar geological characteristics.
Drones Strike Kurdistan’s Largest Gas Field. A drone attack that hit a liquid storage tank shut the 0.75 BCf/d Khor Mor gas field in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, triggering widespread outages across the region as Iraqi militias continue striking the Dana Gas-operated asset.
UK Keeps Windfall Tax but Flags More Auctions. After the UK oil industry was shocked by the Starmer government’s decision to keep the 78% windfall tax in place until 2030, the authorities vowed to soften their stance on new oil and gas permits, provided they’re close to currently producing assets.
Venture Global’s Beef with Shell Turns Official. US LNG developer Venture Global (NYSE: VG) has accused energy giant Shell (LON: SHEL) of waging a ‘three-year’ campaign to damage its business after the latter appealed against its recent arbitration loss, potentially worth $1 billion.
Hungary Mulls Plans to Save Serbian Refining. As Serbia’s only refining asset in Pancevo has entered cold circulation and could soon be halted due to US sanctions on Russia, Hungary’s MOL is considering buying Gazprom’s 11% stake in Serbia’s national oil company NIS and boosting oil exports there.
Profiting From High Margins, China Wants Refineries to Run. With middle distillate cracks shooting through the roof, much to the benefit of Chinese product exporters, the country’s Commerce Ministry has issued its first batch of 2026 crude import quotas for private refiners, totalling 8 million tonnes.
Canada Greenlights This Year’s Top M&A Deal. The Canadian government approved Anglo American’s (LON: AAL) proposed $20 billion takeover of mining peer Teck Resources (NYSE: TECK) on national security grounds, leaving the country’s economic benefit review as the last remaining regulatory hurdle.
Lebanon and Cyprus Delineate Their Maritime Border. The governments of Lebanon and Cyprus have signed a long-anticipated maritime demarcation deal this week, mirroring initial agreements from 2007 as Lebanon seeks to expand its exploration area, still yet to yield any commercially viable discoveries.
Germany Calls for Softer EU Car Bans. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has suggested easing the European Union’s 2035 complete ban on sales of combustion-engine cars, saying that ‘highly efficient’ conventional vehicles should be allowed beyond 2035 to save the continent’s ailing car industry.
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