DTN Oil Update
Oil Up 20% in July, Diesel 27% on Fresh Mideast Fighting
SECAUCUS, N.J. (DTN) -- Crude futures ended July trading more than 20% higher Friday as renewed escalation in the Iran war increased disruption to oil and gas shipments in key Middle East waters.
NYMEX WTI for September delivery settled up $1.08, or 1.3%, at $84.67 bbl. For the month, it rose 22%.
ICE Brent for September delivery finished its last trade date up $0.90, or 1.2%, at $90.12 bbl. For all of July, it gained 21%,
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Refined products bucked Friday's higher trend.
In diesel, NYMEX ULSD futures for August delivery settled their last trade day down $0.0879, or 0.5%, at $4.1215 gallon. For the month, it rose 27%.
On the gasoline front, RBOB for August and September delivery softened by $0.0631, or 0.4%, at $3.2216 a gallon. For the month, it was up 8%.
The U.S. Dollar Index strengthened by 0.84 points to 99.8050 against a basket of currencies.
Flows through Bab-el-Mandeb picked up throughout the week after plummeting on Houthi attacks on tankers and an announcement of their blockade of Saudi Arbian maritime traffic. Yet, oil flows through the chokepoint remained below typical levels, and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continued at little more than a trickle.
On Thursday, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium again halted oil loadings at its Black Sea terminal after two tankers were struck by drones. This came just two days after operations resumed following a week-long suspension caused by drone attacks on several ships. Reports emerging Friday morning suggested that CPC was considering indefinitely pausing operations until receiving safety guarantees from other states, affecting some 1.2 to 1.4 million bpd of global crude oil supply.
Amid escalating fighting in the Middle East, war-induced refinery outages in Russia and the Persian Gulf, and growing disruptions of vital oil shipping routes, oil prices found themselves on a steep upward trajectory in July. As of Friday morning, crude benchmarks Brent and WTI were trading more than 20% higher than at the beginning of the month, and ULSD futures were up more than 30%.
On Friday morning, reports indicated CPC may halt loadings indefinitely until international security assurances are secured, placing roughly 1.2 million to 1.4 million bpd of global crude supply at risk.