Spot platinum fell below $1,620 per ounce, dropping 5.35% intraday.

(1) California-based oil producer Pacific Coast Energy Co. has started operations in Venezuela and plans to double local crude oil production to 40,000 barrels per day within the next six months. (2) The company said on Wednesday that it had commenced operations in the Delta and Cabimas blocks in the third quarter this year and had reactivated over 50 wells producing heavy crude oil. (3) Currently, the two blocks operated by PCEC have a combined daily production of approximately 19,300 barrels. (4) The company stated that these two blocks have the potential to maintain a peak daily output of up to 160,000 barrels for the next ten years.

According to foreign media reports, Syria is about to provide an alternative route for Iraq's crude oil exports to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Iraq plans to arrange a fleet of oil tankers to transport crude oil by land to ports on the Mediterranean coast. Youssef Qiblawi, CEO of the Syrian National Oil Company, said that the Iraqi government has requested Syria's assistance in exporting crude oil, and both sides intend to expand cooperation beyond the current transport of fuel oil. At present, Iraq is already using a fleet of tankers to transport some fuel oil by land to Syria's Mediterranean port of Banias, from where it is loaded onto oil tankers and shipped to overseas markets. If this model is also used for crude oil, it will provide Iraq with an additional land-sea combined export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.