Pause on attacks brings out sellers
- US has halted strikes after 13 days.
- CPC terminal looks to be operational again.
- Flow of vessels through Hormuz remains very low.
- Bab al-Mandab flows likewise very restricted but extend of damage to WC Saudi infrastructure remains a question.
- Reports this morning of a new front opening up as Saudi air defences intercepted drones coming from Iran-allied forces in Iraq.
- Brent futures down $10/bbl this morning and WTI futures down nearly $6/bbl.
- Both futures markets also seeing pressure on from time spreads with the Sep/Oct Brent spread down $1.60.
- Soon to expire Sep Brent $85 calls could be a viable downside target.
- WTI into NWE remains uncompetitive despite weakening TD25.
About the Author
Aaron Kildow | Crude Commodity Owner, Sparta Commodities
Aaron is Sparta’s Commodity Owner for crude, covering physical and financial oil markets, hedging structures, and customised oil balances. He co-founded The Oil Balance and spent over a decade at Macquarie Group building supply/demand models for Cushing, PADD 1, and PADD 3, with earlier trading and derivatives roles at CHS, Musket Corp., and Prudential Financial.
Connect: LinkedIn
About Sparta
Founded in 2020, Sparta made waves in the commodity analytics space in March 2022 when it secured a $6m series A investment from Singular. This success then later snowballed into a further $17.5 million in a series A funding round led by the technology venture capital firm FirstMark, with participation from existing shareholder, Singular.
The platform, created by former traders Miles Moseley and Felipe Elink Schuurman, is designed to answer a common problem shared by most traders: 90% of pricing data required to make trading decisions is kept in silos and shared manually by voice, email, or chat.
Sparta breaks these existing data silos and combines the physical and paper markets to provide traders with live access to global raw prices, from futures and swaps to forward freight and physical premiums. We work with clients globally, including Philips 66, Chevron, Trafigura, Equinor and more.
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