Crude oil and refined product futures were trading lower near midday Friday, putting oil contracts on track to settle lower for a second straight week, as traders expect OPEC and allied producers will announce another increase in output.

The NYMEX July West Texas Intermediate contract was off by 61cts, or about 1%, to $60.33/bbl at about 11:30 a.m. ET and the August WTI contract was 76cts lower at $59.44/bbl.

WTI prices were down by nearly 2% week to week.

With the July Brent crude contract and June refined product contracts expiring at the end of the month, most activity on Friday was centered on the next-month contracts.

The July Brent contract was off by 29cts in light trading to $63.86/bbl, leaving it less than $1 below the week-ago settlement, while the more-active August contract was 82cts lower at $62.53/bbl.

The NYMEX June ULSD contract was off by 3.27cts to $2.0155/gal and the July ULSD contract was down by 3.07cts to $2.0036/gal.

The NYMEX June RBOB contract was 2.64cts lower at $2.033/gal, while the July contract was off by 2.8cts to $2.0092/gal.

The front-month ULSD contract has given back more than 4% this week, while the RBOB contract is about 3.6% lower.

Expectations that the OPEC+ members will agree to boost production in July when they meet this weekend has pressured oil prices all week. Reports suggest the group could agree to increase output by as much as 411,000 b/d during the month. That would come on top of already approved, similar-sized increases in May and June.

The output increases have heightened concerns over global oversupply of oil, particularly as U.S. oil output remains near record levels even as gasoline demand continues to trail last year's level, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

The week has also seen continued economic uncertainty as U.S. courts consider legal challenges to President Trump's tariff policies, first pausing and then reinstating some tariffs.

Petroleum prices, however, are being helped by a weaker dollar, which remains near a 52-week low against a basket of foreign currencies on the U.S. Dollar Exchange. A weaker U.S. currency makes dollar-denominated contracts less expensive for traders from other countries.


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

05-30-25 1232ET