Crude oil and refined product futures prices were seeing a second day of strong gains Tuesday as efforts to broker a peace deal between the U.S. and Iran appear to be stalemated.

U.S. oil prices were up about 4% at 11 a.m. ET, with the NYMEX June West Texas Intermediate crude contract climbing by $4.11 to $102.18/bbl, close to the day's high. July WTI was trading $3.93 higher at $98.67/bbl.

Brent crude was seeing similar-sized gains, with the July contract rising by $3.89 to $108.10/bbl and August prices up $3.55 to $103.94/bbl. Both contracts are also pushing up against the day's highs.

ULSD futures were seeing gains of about 3.8%, with the June contract climbing by 14.69cts to $4.1155/gal and July futures moving 14.09cts higher to 4.39198/gal.

Most activity in RBOB futures is focused on the next-month contract, with July prices trading 10.11cts higher at $3.5386/gal and the front-month contract up 10.21cts, or 2.8%, to $3.7019/gal.

Prices are rising as President Trump has rejected Iran's latest proposal to stop the fighting and on Monday said the cease-fire between the two sides is "on massive life support."

The gains come even as the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday reported the Consumer Price Index rose by 3.8% annually in April. It was the largest increase in three years, with much of the rise due to soaring energy costs following Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The day's gains in futures prices were being reflected in gasoline and diesel prices in spot markets around the country, with both fuels following the futures higher.

Markets are awaiting release of the latest round of petroleum supply and demand data. The American Petroleum Institute releases its weekly inventory report late Tuesday afternoon while the Energy Information Administration will release its weekly petroleum status report Wednesday morning.


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

05-12-26 1158ET