Nymex Overview: Petroleum Futures Continue to See Sharp Increases — OPIS

Crude oil and refined product futures contracts were continuing to see sharp gains heading into Tuesday afternoon as markets reacted to news reports of an imminent Iranian attack on Israel.

Crude contracts were seeing gains of about $3/bbl at 11:30 a.m. ET, with the November West Texas Intermediate crude contract ahead by $3.03 to $71.20/bbl, nearly $5 above the session low. The December contract was $2.83 higher to $70.60/bbl.

December Brent crude was ahead by $2.96 to $74.66/bbl while January prices were climbing by $2.85 to $74.66/bbl.

Refined product prices were spiking by more than 5cts/gal, with November RBOB prices jumping 5.68cts to $1.9919/gal and December prices surging by 5.95cts to $1.9657/gal. November ULSD was adding 5.69cts to $2.2113/gal while December prices gained 5.99cts to $2.223/gal.

The strength in futures contracts was pulling gasoline and diesel prices higher in spot markets around the country. While most markets were mirroring the futures gains, gasoline prices in Chicago were lagging the NYMEX screen, rising about 2.5cts/gal as weaker trade pushed against futures gains.

Even with the gains, futures prices are still below levels seen a week ago, when concerns over a weak economic outlook in China outweighed ongoing tensions in the Mideast and pushed prices lower.

But reports Tuesday indicating Iran is preparing to launch ballistic missiles against Israel raised the specter of increased conflict in the Mideast -- sending equity markets tumbling and energy prices spiking.

CNN on Tuesday morning quoted an unnamed White House official as saying the U.S. believes such an attack is imminent, and that such a strike could carry "severe consequences" for Iran.

Tuesday's gains could vanish if the attack does not materialize or is viewed as only a token response by Iranians for ongoing Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is currently early evening in Tel Aviv. Later Tuesday the American Petroleum Institute will release its weekly petroleum inventory data, followed by the Wednesday release of similar federal data by the Energy Information Administration.

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

October 01, 2024 12:26 ET (16:26 GMT)

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