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Brent oil is one of the most sought after commodities in the world today. Its applications range from energy production to its application as a feedstock for transportation fuels and petrochemical products such as plastics, solvents and adhesives. As a result, the oil industry is one of the most powerful sectors of the world economy, and changes in benchmark oil prices have a major impact on almost all sectors of production and consumption. More than four billion tons of oil are produced worldwide each year, with the Middle East having the largest share of proven oil reserves, close to 50%.

Amid rumors that OPEC and its partners would soon agree to boost output, Brent crude oil futures fell 2.8% to close at $69.7 per barrel on Friday. Although negotiations on the precise amount are still ongoing, sources involved with OPEC+ talks indicated a deal to increase output by 548,000 barrels per day in September may be concluded as early as Sunday. President Trump's recently signed tariffs on imports from dozens of nations, including Canada, India, and Taiwan, which are scheduled to go into effect on August 7, also negatively impacted market sentiment. Meanwhile, after Trump threatened to impose 100% secondary sanctions on Russian oil customers, worries about possible supply disruptions provided some support for prices. These measures could place up to 2.75 million barrels per day of Russian seaborne exports at risk, particularly to China and India. The resolution of several trade deals and the possibility of further progress with China also helped limit losses.

In March report, the growth in global oil demand for 2025 has been lowered down by 300 kb/d to 730 kb/d due to the gloomy economic outlook caused by growing trade tensions. Although growth is predicted to reduce even more in 2026, at 690 kb/d, there are still many risks to the projections because of the rapidly shifting macroenvironment. Since demand growth forecasts reduce the estimated yearly increase by 230 kb/d to 340 kb/d, global crude runs are expected to average 83.2 mb/d this year. Throughputs are expected to increase by 360 kb/d to 83.6 mb/d in 2026. March saw a variety of refining margins, with advances for Singapore's sour crude processing and decreases in the Atlantic Basin. A large portion of last month's drop in profitability was caused by weaker middle distillate cracks.