Nymex Overview: Refined Products Lead Petroleum Futures Contracts Lower -- OPIS - MarketWatch
Nymex Overview: Refined Products Lead Petroleum Futures Contracts Lower -- OPIS - MarketWatch
Crude oil futures prices were lower ahead of midday Tuesday and refined product contracts were on track for a second straight day of declines as concerns continue to pressure the market.
The NYMEX April West Texas Intermediate contract was up 11cts to $78.85/bbl at about 11:30 a.m. ET, while the May contract was down 3cts to $78.14/bbl. The May and June contracts for European benchmark Brent crude were each 9cts lower at $82.71 and $81.99/bbl, respectively.
WTI was trading Tuesday morning in a roughly $1/bbl range of Monday's settlement and Brent was trading in about a 50ct/bbl range.
The muted activity in oil is not being reflected in refined products, which are seeing losses of multiple cents per gallon, even as U.S. refinery output remains constrained by seasonal maintenance.
Gasoline futures were leading the move lower, with the NYMEX April RBOB contract off by 3.41cts to $2.5516/gal and the May contract down by 3.25cts to $2.5444/gal. Both contracts are about 4cts/gal off earlier highs, but about 2cts off session lows.
Diesel futures have bounced off lows seen about an hour ago, with the NYMEX April ULSD contract 1.36cts lower at $2.6336/gal and May down by 0.91ct to $2.5881/gal.
Markets have largely shrugged off Sunday's decision by OPEC and its allies to extend voluntary production cuts through at least the first half of the year.
The decision was widely expected and tighter supply had already been priced into contracts.
U.S. spot gasoline and diesel prices were falling in most parts of the country, with declines mostly mirroring NYMEX moves.
The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release its weekly inventory data later on Tuesday, with the Energy Information Administration issuing its petroleum supply and demand numbers on 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 Jeff Barber, barber@opisnet.com
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: petroleum
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