Gas Prices Top $4 a Gallon -- Commodities Roundup

MARKET MOVEMENTS:

--Brent crude oil is up 0.6% to $108.01 a barrel.

--European benchmark gas is down 7.1% to 51.10 euros a megawatt-hour.

--Copper futures rise 0.9% to $12,299.50 a metric ton.

--Gold futures are up 1.5% to $4,629.30 a troy ounce.

TOP STORY:

Gas Prices Top $4 a Gallon

$4.018. That's how much a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline cost in the U.S. on average on Tuesday, according to AAA. Prices have now risen $1.0357, or almost 35%, since the war with Iran began a little over a month ago.

It's the first time gas has crossed the rarely-broken $4 threshold since August 2022. This century, there had only been 206 days with average gas prices over that benchmark before today: One stretch in 2008 and again in 2022.

OTHER STORIES:

A Russian Tanker Tests the Limits of Trump's Cuba Squeeze

A Russian tanker carrying 730,000 barrels of oil is expected to dock early Tuesday in the northern Cuban port of Matanzas, bringing some brief relief to the fuel-starved island as its economy comes to a grinding halt.

President Trump's decision to allow the one-time shipment of Urals crude aboard the Anatoly Kolodkin to reach Cuba effectively breaks a two-month blockade that has led to widespread fuel shortages and increased power outages across the country.

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Iran War Chokes Off Helium Supply Critical for AI

The Iran war isn't just affecting energy supplies. It is also cutting deeply into supplies of the invisible gas that is essential for cooling artificial-intelligence chip-making tools and keeping MRI scanners humming.

The global supply of helium-the natural-gas byproduct better known for keeping party balloons aloft-is being squeezed by a halt in natural-gas exports from Qatar, the source of about a third of the world's total.

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Europe's Energy Chief Urges Countries to Conserve Fuel

The European Union's energy chief urged countries to safeguard fuel supplies amid a "potentially prolonged disruption" in global energy markets.

Dan Jørgensen, the bloc's commissioner for energy, said countries should consider efforts to bring down energy demand, like those being rolled out across Asia. He also warned against measures--such as fuel price-caps--that could increase demand or disincentivize production.

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Singapore Energy Authority Warns About Fallout from Conflict in Middle East

Singapore households and businesses need to brace for higher costs as the war in the Middle East disrupts oil and gas production, the city-state's energy regulator has warned.

"We cannot predict how long the conflict in the Middle East will last," the Energy Market Authority said Tuesday, urging consumers and companies to be prepared for volatile energy costs.

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War Means Profits for LNG Producers, but Long-Term Challenges

Stocks of U.S. liquefied-natural-gas companies have been on a tear, as higher gas prices will juice profits. But investors are ignoring the flip side of the Iran crisis: High prices are likely to rewire demand in ways that hurt the industry's expansion plans.

LNG has the same chokepoint as oil. Around a fifth of global supply is trapped behind the Strait of Hormuz, and most of this LNG comes from a single Qatari facility that has been struck by Iranian missiles. Qatar says it will take up to five years to repair damage to the Ras Laffan site, which will delay how soon flows go back to normal and keep global prices high.

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Exxon Scientists Had Doubts About Algae Biofuels. The Oil Giant Touted Them Anyway.

Exxon Mobil's scientists delivered a grim message to one of the oil company's top strategic-planning executives in February 2020: Its much-heralded algae biofuels program was falling well short of its stated goals.

Their presentation was one of multiple communications to Exxon's top leadership in early 2020 that even the most promising strains of algae were struggling to produce much oil outside the lab, documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show.

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EU Probes French Plan to Support EDF Nuclear Reactors

The European Union is investigating a French plan to subsidize the construction and operation of six new nuclear reactors by Electricite de France.

The European Commission said on Tuesday it opened an in-depth probe into the project to build six new reactors at sites of existing nuclear power plants in Penly, Gravelines and Bugey, with construction costs estimated at 72.8 billion euros ($83.45 billion). France flagged the plan to the commission for review in November 2025, it said.

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Voltify Raises $30 Million to Change Way Railroads Are Powered

Voltify, a Philadelphia-based startup that wants to decarbonize the rail industry, has raised $30 million in seed funding to trial its system that retrofits diesel locomotives with battery power and charges them on the go via a network of microgrids.

The company, which says it has signed a paid pilot agreement with one of the so-called Class 1 railroads, will use the money to gear up for a real-world test of its technology just as conflict in the Middle East sends diesel prices soaring.

MARKET TALKS:

Grain Traders Piled Into Long Side -- Market Talk

1009 ET - Grain traders are largely holding long contracts for corn, soybeans, and wheat -- meaning that they expect prices to keep rising in the coming weeks and months. But ahead of theProspective Plantings report, these traders may be vulnerable if the USDA says that more acres are expected to be planted than the market anticipates, says Rick Bandazian Jr. of Offsides Macro Insights. "The positioning in grains as a whole are largely in 'Upper Extreme' territory," he says, with research from his firm saying that speculators are "positioned aggressively or overexposed," in corn and wheat especially. "This doesn't necessarily mean 'overbought', but they rhyme," says Bandazian. CBOT grain futures are mixed ahead of the report's release, with corn down 0.9%, soybeans up 0.2%, and wheat up 0.7%. ([e-mail])

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Gold Rises But Remains on Track for Monthly Loss of 12% -- Market Talk

1347 GMT - Gold prices extend gains, but remain on track for a monthly loss of more than 12% as rising energy prices due to the Iran war keep inflation risks high. "The gold price is on course for its sharpest monthly decline since October 2008," says Carsten Fritsch from Commerzbank. However, "as long as the market is not willing to seriously consider Fed rate hikes, the price of gold is likely to benefit from rising oil prices, in contrast to recent weeks." In early U.S. trade, futures in New York rise 1.1% to $4,609.70 a troy ounce. ([e-mail])

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Big Price Moves Possible After USDA Report -- Market Talk

0917 ET - The USDA Prospective Plantings report today may inject new volatility into CBOT grain futures. "Pennant flag formations on corn and new crop beans suggest a big price breakout is likely looming- higher or lower depends on today's report information," Naomi Blohm of Total Farm Marketing says in a note. Analysts surveyed by WSJ anticipate corn acres to slide more than 4 million acres from last year, while soybeans gain over 4 million acres. CBOT corn is down 0.4% premarket, while soybeans are up 0.3% and wheat rises 0.4%. ([e-mail])

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Wheat Higher on Report Trump Willing To End Iran War Without Reopening Hormuz -- Market Talk

0848 ET - A WSJ report that President Trump is considering ending the military campaign in Iran, even with the Strait of Hormuz still closed, is helping boost grains. The news is most relevant to wheat, given that a large amount wheat exports move through the region. In a Truth Social post this morning, Trump chastised allies to "build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT." Should the Strait of Hormuz remain closed, U.S. agriculture will likely feel the continued effects. "The fertilizer crisis and high fuel prices are likely to be factors supporting prices in the long term," says Commerzbank in a note. "Due to the significant rise in the cost of nitrogen fertilizer, yields could be lower this year." Wheat futures are up 0.4% premarket. ([e-mail])

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Oil Volatile as Investors Weigh Trump's Remarks on Hormuz

1419 GMT - Oil prices are volatile Tuesday as traders weigh President Trump's latest remarks on the Iran war. In a social media post, Trump pushed U.S. allies to launch their own operation to wrest control of the Strait of Hormuz and get their own oil. Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump told aides he is willing to end the campaign against Iran even if the strait remains largely closed. "This is not going to do the trick," says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at Forex.com. "Until the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut for the U.S. and its allies, the global energy shock is not going to go away." The most-active Brent contract is down 0.6% to $106.80 a barrel, while futures for May, which expire on Tuesday, rise 4.8% to $118.15 a barrel. WTI futures for May fall 0.4% to $102.44 a barrel. ([e-mail])

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Brent Could Add $15-$20 on Potential Red Sea Disruption, Raising Recession Risks -- Market Talk

1351 GMT - Brent crude could rise by $15-$20 a barrel, with prices above $100 for a prolonged period in a scenario where both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al-Mandeb strait are effectively closed, according to Capital Economics. "The bigger impact of Red Sea strikes on the global economy would be via the indirect effect on global oil prices," economists at the firm say. "In this scenario, the slowdown in global growth is sufficient to meet most definitions of a global recession." ([e-mail])

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U.S. Natural Gas Futures Recover Some Ground -- Market Talk

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03-31-26 1113ET