Crude oil and refined product futures were selling off Friday morning, leaving prices little changed week on week.

The dollar has been surging this week and that has been a headwind for oil. However, trade sources said the bigger factors come from China and Russia. China is reportedly holding back on a larger stimulus package for its economy until it knows more about tariffs the incoming Trump administration may bring. Russia, meanwhile, said it would be willing to negotiate an end to the war with Ukraine if it keeps the parts of Ukraine it has already seized.

December West Texas Intermediate briefly dropped below $70 just ahead of midday and has seen a slight rebound to last trade at $70.23/bbl, down $2.13. Brent futures for January were down just inside of $2, trading at $73.66/bbl and bottoming at $73.44. While the market is paying more attention to the China and Russia headlines, it has largely ignored talk of Trump putting "maximum pressure" on Iran when he is back in office.

Refined products were also down Friday and just about matching the downside in crude oil which has given little benefit to paper cracks.

RBOB and ULSD are off around 5cts for the December contract and hovering less than a cent above the earlier lows.

Currently, front-month ULSD is off by 5.32cts, last trading at $2.3332/gal with December RBOB last printing at $2.0041/gal, a 4.95ct drop.

Spot gasoline on the Gulf Coast has dropped by more than the paper markets would imply, with discounts widening back out to double digits as Hurricane Rafael likely presents little threat to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Another big move is in Los Angeles, where premiums have dropped by several cents, lowering prices by about 12.5cts at midday. Diesel spot markets are mostly steady with the ULSD losses pulling spot values lower.


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 Denton Cinquegrana, dcinquegrana@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-08-24 1246ET