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Surprise!

Iran hits the US with 'surprise' attacks, China is negotiating with the Houthis and the MERA consortium looks to build a 200 kb/d refinery.
Published: July 29, 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: 143
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Iran hits the US with 'surprise' attacks, China is negotiating with the Houthis and the MERA consortium looks to build a 200 kb/d refinery.

It all kicked off again! CENTCOM said it intercepted an “attempted surprise attack” of Iranian ballistic missiles against US troops in Jordan. Spence said the cagey attack was to disable a Mr T and Mr N surprise. Who knows. Also, there's rumors the Iranians will get some super duper Chinese anti-aircraft missiles. Naturally, Trump is back threatening fire and brimstone in retaliation… The regional conflict is escalating too: the US and Saudi Arabia attacked Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, blaming them for dozens of recent drone attacks. So prices gapped up at the open – a bit… From yesterday’s final close around $83.80/bbl, Brent opened this morning nearly four bucks higher! Yet, we’re still only around $87. Dubai got an even bigger boost; the Aug Brent/Dubai swap plummeted to around $6 this morning, down a buck from yesterday’s close – but recovered towards $6.50 after the window.

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We invite you to read our reports, which are published twice a day, reflecting closing values at 16:30 Singapore time (SGT) and at 16:30 London time (GMT/BST). For any comments, please reach out to us through the emails provided in the signed documents.

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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