During the Asian morning trading session, Brent crude oil futures prices fell slightly. The previous trading day saw an increase of more than $1 per barrel due to the interest rate cut by the United States.

As of 12:00 Beijing time, the November contract for Brent crude oil was priced at $74.73 per barrel, a decrease of 15 cents from the settlement price on September 19. The closing price of the contract on that day rose by $1.23 compared to the previous trading day.

The October contract for crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange was priced at $71.91 per barrel, a decrease of 4 cents from the settlement price on September 19. The closing price of the contract on that day rose by $1.04 compared to the previous trading day.

A financial industry source revealed to Argus that a 50 basis points interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve is unlikely to lower Japan's energy import costs. Although the yen briefly appreciated against the US dollar after the Federal Reserve announced the interest rate cut, the yen had already recovered to pre-cut levels when the Tokyo financial market opened. A source in Tokyo pointed out that although WTI crude oil prices fell to around $70 per barrel, they are still expensive for Japanese importers. They believe that it is only considered cheap when prices drop to around $50 per barrel.

Asian condensate prices have reached a two-year high, rising in sync with naphtha profit margins ahead of the seasonal increase in transportation fuel demand at the end of the year. Since September, the average premium of naphtha crack spread has risen to $97.74 per barrel, compared to $80.88 in August and $66.11 in July. As travel increases during the end-of-year holidays, the demand for transportation fuel typically rises, prompting cracker operators to stockpile condensate. Condensate crackers aim to produce heavy naphtha, the demand for which usually increases at the end of the year to meet gasoline production needs.

A small Libyan private company appears to have obtained an exemption from the country's oil blockade, which has halved its exports. According to official documents seen by Argus, Arkenu Oil - a private oil and gas development and production company - plans to ship 1 million barrels of Sarir and Mesla crude oil from Marsa el-Hariga to Trieste, Italy via the Maran Poseidon oil tanker. The tanker has been chartered by Turkish trader BGN and is currently loading cargo.

Egypt sold a rare cargo of Suez Blend crude oil through a tender this week, marking a return of export of that grade since it was made available by state-owned EGPC in June. Suez Blend crude oil exports are uncommon. According to Vortexa data, there have been only three shipments of the grade exported from the Ras Shukheir terminal since 2016, two of which were this year. Egyptian crude oil exports are generally limited as most of the country's supply is used domestically. So far this year, the average daily loadings of Egyptian crude oil have been only 27,000 barrels, significantly lower than the pre-pandemic level of 175,000 barrels per day in 2019.

(The above content is from Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)