Crude oil and refined product futures were again trading higher late Tuesday morning as traders continue to focus on developments in the Middle East.
The ICE Brent contract and Nymex April refined products contracts expire on Tuesday and prices varied widely with most activity focused on next-month contracts.
The May Brent contract was up $6.23 to $11.01/bbl in light trading at about 11:15 a.m. ET, while the more-active June contract was 38cts higher at $107.77/bbl.
West Texas Intermediate crude follows a different trading calendar, so most remains focused on the May contract, which was up $1.35 to $104.23/bbl. The June WTI contract was 60cts higher at $96.62/bbl.
The lightly traded Nymex April ULSD contract was down 3.49cts to $4.3294/gal, and the more-active May ULSD was 1.31cts higher at $4.2188/gal. April RBOB was up 1.6cts to $3.3675/gal and May RBOB was 1.8cts higher at $3.2778/gal.
Crude contracts traded in a wide range, with about $6 separating the morning highs and lows for WTI and June Brent.
Refined product contracts also traded in a wide range, with about 23cts separating the morning highs and lows in the ULSD futures, while May RBOB's morning highs and lows separated by 18cts.
Traders' attention remains fixed on developments in the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran. Petroleum futures retreated after The Wall Street Journal reported President Trump told aides he's willing to end the war even if Iran remains in control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Trump, however, has also continued to warn that the U.S. will attack Iranian power plants if the country doesn't reopen the strait and agree to a peace deal.
In the U.S., the conflict on Monday sent the average retail price of gasoline above $4/gal for the first time since the summer of 2022.
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 Steven Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeffrey Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-31-26 1218ET
