Crude oil and refined product futures surrendered early morning gains and were lower ahead of midday Friday, increasing odds that U.S. crude prices could extend their string of week-to-week declines.

The Nymex March West Texas Intermediate crude contract was off 27cts to $71.02/bbl at about 11 a.m. ET, just 2cts above the week-ago settlement and more than $1 below morning highs. The April WTI contract was 20cts lower at $70.94/bbl.

Brent crude was seeing smaller declines, with the April contract down by 8cts to $74.94/bbl. The May Brent contract was 9cts lower at $74.57/bbl. The front-month Brent contract is more than 20cts above where it ended last Friday.

Gasoline futures were also struggling to close out the week in the black. The Nymex March RBOB contract was off by 2.21cts to $2.0886/gal, leaving it down by nearly 2cts week to week and more than 4cts below morning highs. The April contract, which reflects more the expensive summer-grade specification, was down by 1.52cts to $2.3115/gal.

Diesel contracts, however, were on track for week to week gains, with the Nymex March ULSD contract up by 0.31ct to $2.4518/gal. While that was about 3cts off the morning's high, it is more than 2cts above where prices settled last Friday. The April ULSD contract was 0.14ct higher at $2.3919/gal.

Energy prices this week continued recent volatility, with markets reacting to potential U.S. tariffs and the possibility of peace between both Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine.

Prices also faced headwinds from persistent U.S. inflation and indications the Federal Reserve will likely take a cautious approach to interest rate cuts in the coming months.

Oversupply fears are also weighing on contracts, as U.S. production remains strong and OPEC and its allies have signaled that they plan to begin unwinding earlier production cuts as soon as April 1. The International Energy Agency on Thursday warned that Chinese demand growth will slow and suggested that the country's consumption of gasoline, gasoil and jet fuel may have peaked.


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 Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-14-25 1156ET