Crude oil and refined product futures prices were showing solid gains Wednesday as continued tensions between the U.S. and Iran outweighed largely bearish U.S. inventory and demand data released earlier in the morning.

U.S. crude prices were up about 1.6% at 11:10 a.m. ET, with the NYMEX March West Texas Intermediate crude contract rising by $1.05 to $65.01/bbl and April prices up by $1 to $64.79/bbl. Both contracts are about 80cts off earlier highs.

Brent crude was seeing similar gains, with April Brent rising by $1.02 to $69.82/bbl and May prices gaining 96cts to $69.07/bbl.

Distillate prices were leading refined products higher, as supply draws from the recent bout of cold weather in the U.S. continue to support prices. The NYMEX March ULSD contract was ahead by 2.3%, gaining 5.37cts to $2.4525/gal while April prices rose by 4.37cts to $2.3803/gal.

RBOB prices were rising by about 1.4%, even as federal data showed builds in U.S. gasoline inventories. March RBOB was up by 2.76cts to $1.9868/gal while April prices were moving ahead by 2.43cts to $2.2064/gal.

RBOB futures are nearly 3cts off earlier highs, while ULSD futures have backed off by about 2.5cts.

The gains come as markets remain focused on the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with President Trump on Wednesday set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Discussions are expected to focus on ongoing talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Tensions also heightened after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country would not agree to "excessive demands" by the U.S.

The international news has supported markets even as the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 8.5 million bbl in the week ended Friday. Despite the large increase, inventories remain 3% below seasonal averages for this time of year. EIA also reported a 1.2 million bbl build in U.S. gasoline inventories, which are about 4% above the five-year average.

Markets were expecting a drop in distillate inventories due to increased demand brought on by the recent cold, and EIA reported stockpiles fell by 2.7 million bbl during the week and are now 4% below where they normally are at this time of year.

The build in crude supplies came as U.S. production recovered from the previous week's cold weather related decline, averaging 13.713 million b/d during the week. Supplies also built as U.S. refinery utilization fell by about one percentage point to 89.4% of capacity.

As expected, U.S. distillate demand during the week was robust, with EIA reporting products supplied - its indicator of implied demand - up 139,000 b/d from the previous week to 4.449 million b/d. That's about 760,000 b/d higher than at this time last year.

Implied gasoline demand rose by 147,000 b/d from the previous week to 8.3 million b/d. That's still about 276,000 b/d below levels seen at this time last year.


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 Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-11-26 1230ET