VIENNA, 13 Nov. - (ANA) - In October, the OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) value dropped by $5.19/b, month-on-month (m-o-m), to

average $65.20/b. The ICE Brent front-month contract dropped in October by $3.63/b, m-o-m, to average $63.95/b, and the NYMEX WTI front-month contract dropped by $3.46/b, m-o-m, to average $60.07/b. The GME Oman front-month contract dropped in October by $5.09/b, m-o-m, to average at $64.95/b. The Brent–WTI front-month spread averaged $3.88/b in October, down by 17¢/b, m-o-m. The market structure of all three crude benchmarks ? ICE Brent, NYMEX WTI and GME Oman ? weakened further in October.

 

However, the front end of the forward curves remained in backwardation, reflecting healthy physical oil market fundamentals. Hedge funds and other money managers maintained a bearish stance on crude oil futures for most of the month of October.

 

AB/ANA/13 November 2025 - - -