The Spread: Daily Oil & Gas Briefing
By Jaime Adroher
Categories: News, Business News
A short daily briefing on oil and gas, refining, petrochemicals and midstream: Brent and WTI, LNG and European gas, refining margins, OPEC and shipping. What moved today, and why it matters. Every number is sourced, and claims are kept apart from facts. Built from free and official sources, and written and read with AI.
23 episodes indexed on PodSearch.
Recent episodes
- Russia loses 30% of refining; Peace bets sink Brent sub-$90 | 11 Nov
Ukrainian drone strikes have disrupted about a third of Russia's refining capacity just as Moscow tries to export more diesel. Brent briefly fell below $90 on Iran de-escalation signals, but freight and attacks on Gulf shipping are keeping delivered costs high. This episode is written and read…
- Qatar takes Iran offer to US; Saudi bypass pipeline hit | 10 Nov
Qatar's prime minister is taking an Iranian interim proposal to reopen Hormuz to the White House, and Brent fell about 7% on Monday. That happened even though Saudi Arabia's main Hormuz bypass pipeline was attacked the same day. This episode is written and read with AI, from public sources. Show…
- Iraq claims Hormuz lane deal; Sixth Russian refinery hit | 9 Nov
Iraq says Washington has agreed a lane for its oil exports through Hormuz near Oman, while US forces disabled a ship trying to run the Iran blockade. Crude ended last week with its steepest weekly loss since 2022 as peace bets outran the fighting. This episode is written and read with AI, from…
- Crude rebounds 4% after rout; Iran exempts China and India | 6 Nov
Crude recovered about 4% on Thursday as traders doubted that the midterm result means a quick end to the Iran war, and Tehran said it is exempting China and India from its Hormuz restrictions. In the US, refiners are making less gasoline than in any recent year so they can produce more diesel and…
- Oil crashes 9% after midterms; Fire halts Visund gas output | 5 Nov
Crude fell about 9% on Wednesday after the White House tied its midterm losses to the Iran war and Trump said he had no immediate plans to strike Iran. Gas stayed tight: a fire took Norway's Visund export capacity offline, and US distillate stocks drew sharply. This episode is written with AI from…
- Dubai flips to contango; Diesel stays short to 2027 | 4 Nov
Dubai crude has slipped into contango for the first time since July as Gulf barrels pile up, even as the world stays short of diesel. Brent whipsawed on conflicting US-Iran peace headlines after Washington confirmed a strike on Qeshm Island. This episode is written with AI from public sources and…
- Brent sinks 7% on Iran talks; Germany misses gas fill goal | 3 Nov
Crude lost nearly 7% on Monday after Washington and Tehran both signalled room for diplomacy, though tankers were still being hit in the Gulf. In Europe, Germany entered winter well short of its gas storage obligation, with TTF above €100/MWh. This episode is written with AI from public sources…
- Pakistan LNG ship attacked; EU gas tops €101/MWh | 2 Nov
An LNG carrier cleared by Iran was attacked near Hormuz, and limpet mines have hit a tanker for the first time in the war. European gas has topped €101/MWh, Brent ended October near $118, and Russia has kept its diesel export ban in place through January. This episode is written with AI from…
- Europe to release 42m bbl; Tanker sinking off Oman after projectile strike | 30 Oct
Europe plans to release 42m bbl of emergency oil stocks over three months, half of it diesel, the most direct relief yet for its record diesel prices. A tanker was left burning and largely submerged off Oman, while a US approach to Tehran pulled Brent back towards $114. This episode is written…
- Qatar LNG halt to year-end; Diesel tanker for NY idles | 29 Oct
Qatar has extended its LNG force majeure to the end of the year, so Europe and Asia head into winter without Qatari term cargoes. The first Russian diesel cargo bound for the US has dropped New York as its destination after lawmakers threatened legal action. This episode is written with AI from…
- Ras Tanura fire contained; Russia swaps crude for diesel | 28 Oct
Saudi Arabia contained a fire near Ras Tanura, its biggest export terminal, after a Houthi missile and drone attack, and Brent firmed in early Asian trade. Aramco is also offering discounted spot crude to Europe from its Red Sea and Mediterranean outlets. This episode is written with AI from…
- Houthis claim pipeline hits; India trims Russian crude | 27 Oct
Yemen's Houthis claim strikes on pumping stations along Saudi Arabia's East-West crude pipeline, the main route for Gulf crude that avoids Hormuz, and Egypt has voted to help defend the kingdom. Oil eased from a six-month high as regional security chiefs flew to Tehran. Indian refiners are turning…
- $116 Brent despite Gulf flows; Freight walls off US crude | 26 Oct
Brent ended last week above $116 after more attacks on Saudi Arabia, even though Middle East crude exports are now running above pre-war levels. Freight is the other squeeze: tanker costs are pricing US crude out of Asia and lifting fuel oil above crude in Singapore. This episode is written with…
- Oil jumps 4% on Saudi attacks; Iran claims seven ships hit | 23 Oct
Oil jumped about 4% after deadly attacks in Saudi Arabia, and Iran claimed seven more vessels hit in the Gulf, four of them mid-transfer. Freight is now the binding constraint on both crude and diesel, shutting US diesel exports to Europe. This episode is written with AI from public sources and…
- Hormuz: two more tankers hit as Gulf crude keeps flowing | 22 Oct
Two more tankers were hit in the Gulf and a drone killed two people at Saudi Arabia's Shaybah field, yet Middle East crude is still moving close to pre-war volumes. Freight, not supply, is now the binding constraint, both for Gulf barrels to Asia and for US diesel to Europe. This episode is…
- Hormuz: engine-room hits and $1m-a-day VLCCs | 21 Oct
Iranian strikes in the Gulf are doing heavier damage to ships, and VLCC spot rates have passed $1m a day, so producers are cutting prices to keep buyers. In Europe, a sharp drop in Norwegian gas output and a near-stall in storage injections tighten an already thin winter balance. This episode is…
- Iran's terminals idle as Iraq nears pre-war exports | 20 Oct
Iran's main oil terminals have stood empty for weeks under a US naval blockade, while Iraq says its exports are back near pre-war levels. Washington also says it will let sanctioned dark-fleet tankers be sold back into legitimate trade as tanker earnings hit records. This episode is written with…
- Brent reaches $110 on Houthi and Russia-Ukraine strikes | 19 Oct
Brent touched $110 for the first time since May as Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia and Russia-Ukraine energy attacks added risk premium. Over the weekend, Iran said two tankers hit mines in Hormuz and repeated its offer to reopen the strait. This episode is written with AI from public sources and…
- IEA rushes diesel, US pushes for more | 16 Oct
The IEA is rushing more than 20 million barrels of diesel to market, and Washington is weighing relief for shadow-fleet tankers to cool record freight. Ukraine's strike on Russia's Ryazan refinery ended Kyiv's pause on energy targets, so diesel remains the tightest part of the barrel. This episode…
- Hormuz: container ship and bulker sink | 15 Oct
Two ships have sunk near the Strait of Hormuz and Brent is back above $106, as attacks keep undoing the partial recovery in Gulf loadings. Saudi Arabia now acknowledges a fire at Aramco's Dhahran headquarters, and the Houthis say more strikes on oil sites are coming. This episode is written with…
- Houthi strike hits Aramco's Dhahran headquarters | 14 Oct
A Houthi missile attack reportedly hit Saudi Aramco's Dhahran headquarters, and Riyadh struck back at Sanaa, taking the Saudi-Houthi war into the kingdom's oil heartland. In the Gulf, empty supertankers are steering away from a key transfer hub while Japanese buyers return to load crude by…
- Hormuz: 11 October count revised to six ships hit | 13 Oct
A fuller count shows six merchant ships were hit around Hormuz on 11 October, and Gulf LNG flows remain far below pre-war levels as winter demand builds. Freight costs are also stranding heavy crude in the Americas, and Houthi strikes on Riyadh raise the risk of a wider war. This episode is…
- Gulf: attacks spread beyond the Strait | 12 Oct
The Gulf tanker war widened over the weekend and crude rose. Brent hit $106.80, up $2.09, and WTI hit $93.78, up $1.93. Early Monday the Russia-Ukraine "energy ceasefire" had pulled prices lower, but the Middle East attacks outweighed it by the US session. European gas is at its highest since…
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