Petroleum futures were higher, leaving them following a pattern set over the last several sessions where buyers step in after an early selloff.
Crude futures were also seeing support Tuesday from stronger equity markets and a slightly weaker dollar.
The shift from the May to June West Texas Intermediate contract left a small gap to fill, and that was occurring. The June contract at its low point was down to $80.88/bbl, the lowest price since late March.
However, the contract has since rallied nearly $2 and was trading 88cts higher at $82.78/bbl. The June Brent contract is following a similar pattern and was up 82cts to $87.82/bbl.
Refined products futures also were higher. Gains in gasoline outpaced distillate. The NYMEX ULSD contract was on track for a third straight day of gains.
NYMEX RBOB contracts have fallen over the past four sessions, with the May contract down by 13.7cts. The May RBOB contract at $2.7095/gal was about 14cts below its April 12 high.
The May and June RBOB contracts were up by about 2.5cts to $2.711/gal and $2.6862/gal, respectively.
U.S. spot market prices were also higher. Cash prices in San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest were 7.5 to 8cts/gal higher.
The front-month ULSD contract was up by just over 1ct. If that holds, futures could end Tuesday's session with a third straight day of gains. The NYMEX May ULSD contract, which nearly dropped below $2.50/gal on Monday, was 1.22cts higher at $2.5726/gal just after midday. The June ULSD contract was 1.12cts higher to $2.5791/gal.
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 Denton Cinquegrana, dcinquegrana@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-23-24 1309ET
