Petroleum futures higher ahead of midday Friday, leaving crude oil and diesel contracts on track for a sixth straight day of gains.
Diesel prices were leading the move higher, with the NYMEX May ULSD contract up by 4.16cts to $2.7829/gal at about 11:15 a.m. ET, near morning highs. The June ULSD contract was 3.92cts higher at $2.7735/gal.
Gasoline futures were also higher, but lagged diesel's increases. The NYMEX May RBOB contract was up by 1.47cts to $2.8089/gal and the June contract was 1.62cts higher at $2.7840/gal, were also near morning highs.
Gains in crude oil contracts were below $1/bbl, the NYMEX May West Texas Intermediate contract up 85cts to $87.44/bbl and June WTI 81cts higher at $86.62/bbl. June Brent crude was 94cts in the black to $91.59/bbl and the July contract was up by 81cts to $90.47/bbl.
The gains come amid continued tensions in the Mideast as Israel continues its war against Hamas and as OPEC and its allies this week agreed to keep oil production quotas in place through at least June.
Refined products were also finding support from government data that showed strong U.S. gasoline demand last week, a slowdown in domestic refining and continuing Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian refining facilities.
The recent string of daily gains for energy futures mean all are on track to end the week higher. Crude prices are about $4/bbl higher week to week, while diesel contracts are up by about 16cts/gal. RBOB prices are up by more than 8cts/gal.
In U.S. spot refined product markets, gasoline and diesel prices were largely matching NYMEX gains Friday morning.
Values for Renewable Identification Number credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard program have been weaker this week, with prices dropping to a three-week low on Thursday.
That trend was continuing Friday, with both ethanol-based D6 RIN and biodiesel based D4 credits off by about 1ct.
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
04-05-24 1209ET
