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Talking down to the price

Prices are hemorrhaging, sources tell us the Jizan refinery is out of action for 15 days and Asia has an insatiable appetite for coal.
Published: July 28, 2026
Written by:
Will Cunliffe

Will Cunliffe

Research Analyst, The Officials
Will Cunliffe
and
Edward Hayden-Briffett

Edward Hayden-Briffett

Research Analyst, The Officials
Edward Hayden-Briffett
Reviewed by:
Jorge Montepeque

Jorge Montepeque

Head of Benchmarking, The Officials
Jorge Montepeque
Edition: Asia EditionVolume: 3Issue: 142
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Prices are hemorrhaging, sources tell us the Jizan refinery is out of action for 15 days and Asia has an insatiable appetite for coal.

The peace talking has brought flat price down again, as Brent dropped into the mid-$80s this morning – even briefly below $85 for the first time since 17 July. The prompt spread weakened from its $7 high late last week towards just $2 again. Netanyahu is in the US to lobby Trump to continue the fight against Iran, but the Don seems fatigued – like the rest of us – and is making more TACO-ish noises again. He’s running out of money, missiles and motivation. And the mid-terms are coming! Motivation in the Dubai window waned too, as bids were few and far between, and sellers were somewhat standoffish. Mitsui and Trafi both withdrew bids before the close, leaving BP’s the only one to get hit – and the only trade. Offers from Unipec, BP, Vitol, Shenghong and Phillips all lowered offers but no buyers fancied them. As such the physical premium tumbled to $4.25/bbl, down $1.71/bbl.

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Written by

Will Cunliffe

Research Analyst, The Officials
Will Cunliffe

Edward Hayden-Briffett

Research Analyst, The Officials
Edward Hayden-Briffett

About Asia Edition

Benchmark reports published at the close of the trading day in Asia.

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