Crude oil and refined product futures were lower at midday Friday, but could still end the session with week-to-week gains.
The NYMEX February West Texas Intermediate crude contract, which opened higher, was off 29cts to $73.79/bbl as of 11:50 a.m. ET. The March contract was down by 48cts to $73.47/bbl.
Globex Brent crude contracts were seeing similar losses, with the March contract 47cts lower at $78.63/bbl and the April contract down 48cts to $78.17/bbl.
WTI prices are about $1.50 above the Jan. 12 settlement, while Brent is holding onto a weekly gain of about 50cts.
Refined products were seeing steeper declines Friday, with the NYMEX February RBOB contract off by 2.31cts to $2.1604/gal and March down 2.27cts to $2.1828/gal.
The NYMEX February ULSD contract was 1.9cts in the red to $2.6746/gal and March was down by 1.3cts to $2.6366/gal. Based on current prices, RBOB futures are on track to end the session up more than 4cts week to week, while ULSD contracts are about 0.5ct above their Jan. 12 settlement.
Energy futures rose sharply Thursday following a bullish U.S. oil stock report and continued tensions in the Middle East.
Friday's weakness in energy prices is also being felt in U.S. spot refined product markets, where prices for both gasoline and diesel are mostly down. In California, January-delivered Los Angeles CARBOB implied prices were nearly 7cts/gal lower on futures selling and weaker differentials. Los Angeles, however, was the only market reporting higher diesel values, though gains were less than a cent.
Renewable Identification Number credit prices appear to be on track for a seventh-straight down session, with D4 biodiesel-related credits off by 1.5cts and D6 ethanol RINs 1.75cts lower.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
--Reporting by Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-19-24 1243ET
