Market Insights > First Look

Oil Gains as India Pulls Back from Russian Crude; Gas Trades Near Recent Highs

Oil climbs as Indian refiners avoid Russian barrels
- The WTI prompt-month contract gained $0.60, trading at $60.73/Bbl Tuesday morning (7:45 AM CT)
- India has reduced purchases of Russian crude for December delivery, signaling that Western sanctions and US trade negotiations are reshaping buying patterns
- Five major Indian refiners have not booked any Russian cargoes for next month, according to Bloomberg.
  - These refiners accounted for two-thirds of India’s Russian oil imports this year, based on Kpler data
  - Typically, deals for next month’s crude are finalized by the 10th of the current month
- Buyers are reluctant to take discounted Russian barrels from non-sanctioned suppliers due to a complex due-diligence process aimed at ensuring no sanctioned entities are involved in the supply chain
Lukoil declares force majeure amid sanctions (Bloomberg)
- Russia’s Lukoil has declared force majeure on shipments from its West Qurna 2 field in Iraq
- The decision underscores how sanctions are beginning to disrupt Lukoil’s international operations
- Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO canceled three Lukoil cargoes scheduled for November loading

Regional Market Insights

Updated regularly with the most important market moves and outlooks.

Gas trades higher, with prices remaining near recent highs
- After this week’s cold front, Lower-48 average temperatures should warm up to the ten-year average and remain slightly elevated for most of the next two weeks
- Gas production is down today, near 106 Bcf/d, after reaching nearly 107 Bcf/d yesterday
Cheniere starts LNG production on new expansion train (S&P)
- LNG exporter Cheniere has started flowing gas to its midscale train 4, which is one of seven midscale units
- Inflows to Corpus Christi LNG should continue to rise over the next few months and in 2026 as more liquefaction trains are commissioned
- However, gas flows into the plant can be difficult to track as up to 1.7 Bcf/d can be sourced from the intrastate ADCC pipeline, which is not required to report data
- Continued capacity increases from the US LNG fleet should push Lower-48 feedgas demand above 20 Bcf/d this winter