A poor U.S. jobs report led to a broader sell-off on Friday, with leading stock indices falling from record highs.
Friday, August 1st, 2025
Buoyed by Trump’s Russia threats and news of Indian state refiners curbing purchases of Russian crude, crude oil futures have been trending above $70 per barrel throughout the week, settling on Friday slightly below the $71 mark. Towards the end of the week, sentiment has been sapped by expectations of yet another OPEC+ production hike, potentially even as high as 548,000 b/d, as the eight output-cutting countries aim to get rid of voluntary quota commitments.
US Slaps New Sanctions on Chinese Ports. The US State Department stated it would impose sanctions on 20 entities it suspects of trading Iranian oil and petrochemical products, including the Chinese oil terminal Zhoushan Jinrun, the fourth port facility in China to be directly targeted by the US.
Indian State-Owned Refiners Stop Russian Imports. India’s state-controlled refiners have stopped buying Russian oil as discounts narrowed to just -$1 per barrel to Dubai, further disincentivized by Donald Trump’s announced 25% tariff on India if the country continues its purchases of Russian crude.
Saudi Budget Deficits Shrinks on Higher Oil. Buoyed by higher crude oil production on the heels of OPEC+ unwinding, Saudi Arabia’s budget deficit shrank to $9.2 billion in Q2 2025, a 40% decline compared to the previous quarter, putting the kingdom’s public debt at 370 billion.
Trump Endorses Chevron’s Venezuela Return. Confirming rumours from a week ago, the Trump administration has reportedly granted a sanctions waiver to US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX), allowing it to resume operations in Venezuela on the condition that no money reaches the Venezuelan state.
China’s Polysilicon Industry Launches Its Own Revamp. Top Chinese producers of polysilicon, a key component of solar panels, are reportedly negotiating a $7 billion plan to purchase and shut down a third of the country’s production capacity, equivalent to 1 million tonnes per year, eyeing an industry revamp.
LNG Canada Runs into Problems. Shell’s (LON:SHEL) $40 billion LNG Canada is undergoing technical issues that halved its liquefaction capacity, with problems reported at the Kitimat plant’s gas turbine and refrigerant production unit, prompting at least one LNG tanker to divert away from the facility.
Egypt’s Favourite Oil Majors Expand Their Presence. Seeking to kick-start rapidly depleting offshore gas fields, Egypt’s state oil company EGPC signed a joint exploration deal with European oil majors ENI (BIT:ENI) and BP (NYSE:BP) to appraise the El Temsah block to the east of Chevron’s Nargis discovery.
New Zealand Wants to Drill for Oil Again. The government of New Zealand has lifted its 2018 ban on offshore drilling introduced by the Ardern government back in the day, with crude production in the country gradually declining over the past years due to lack of investments, to just 17,000 b/d.
Power Outage Saps Freeport LNG Output. The US’ Freeport LNG terminal has been running at 50% of its capacity after a power outage had put the entire plant offline on Wednesday, representing a 1.1 BCf per day loss for feedgas demand in the country as it reported seven outage events in July alone.
Europe Mulls Pooling LNG Purchases from US. The European Commission suggested pooling LNG buying demand from European companies to ramp up imports of US-origin LNG in line with Brussels’ $250 billion energy import commitment, seeking to create some negotiating leverage with US suppliers.
Copper TACO Clears Chicago Premium. In a perfect example of a TACO trade, US copper futures plunged by 22% on Wednesday after the Trump administration exempted copper ores, concentrates and cathodes from its oft-hailed 50% copper import tariff, sending COMEX futures down to $9,650/mt.
US Refiner Gets Slapped with Giant Penalty. US downstream giant Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was mandated to pay $800 million in damages to biofuels producer Propel Fuels for stealing trade secrets under the guise of gathering due diligence for a potential acquisition, according to a California state court ruling.
Egypt Eyes FSRU Start Next Week. Egypt’s government announced that flows from its recently deployed LNG regasification vessel Energos Eskimo are expected to start next week, seeking to further ramp up LNG imports after taking in an all-time high of 1 million tonnes last month, doubling June imports.
By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com
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