Oil futures moved lower midday Thursday as markets monitored developments from the summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, and weighed ongoing constraints on tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
As of 11:50 a.m. ET, the July ICE Brent crude contract had fallen 74cts to $104.89/bbl, while August dropped 79cts to $100.77/bbl. The June West Texas Intermediate contract was trading 9cts lower at $100.93, with July WTI down 20cts to $96.61/bbl.
Refined products were also trading lower, as the June ULSD contract fell 6.91cts to $3.8976/gal and July's diesel contract dropped 5.55cts to $3.7586/gal. The June RBOB contract was trading 5.55cts lower at $3.632/gal, with July down 4.55cts at $3.4254/gal.
According to the White House, Trump and Xi agreed during Thursday's meeting that the Strait of Hormuz should remain open, and Xi reiterated China's opposition to the militarization of the waterway and any tolls on transit through it. Ritterbusch & Associates said in a note that additional Chinese cooperation beyond those comments was "unlikely," adding that the recent pullback in oil prices appears to reflect "a brief technical adjustment."
An average of 2.6 oil and gas tankers per day has transited the strait so far this month, according to UBS. That's down from three per day in April and nearly 50 per day in February.
Additionally, a vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates was seized by "unauthorized personnel" and was heading toward Iranian territorial waters, U.K. Maritime Trade Operations reported Thursday.
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 Allegra Fradkin, afradkin@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-14-26 1233ET
