DTN Oil Update
Oil Eases as Europe Readies First Emergency Diesel Batch
VIENNA (DTN)- - Oil prices eased Thursday morning as traders assessed the latest diplomatic push for a temporary peace deal between the U.S. and Iran. In Europe, the first tranche of 42 million barrels (bbl) of oil and diesel from emergency reserves is set to be delivered over the coming days.
By 09:00 a.m. EDT, ICE Brent for December delivery was down $1.03 to trade near $114.29 bbl, and NYMEX WTI for December delivery fell $1.34 to $101.44 bbl.
Downstream, NYMEX ULSD for November delivery slid $0.1302 to $4.685 gallon, and front-month RBOB futures retreated $0.0422 to $3.1312 gallon.
The U.S. dollar index remained steady, inching up 0.015 points to 102.045 against a basket of foreign currencies.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance reportedly reached out to senior leadership in Iran to negotiate a temporary peace deal. Tehran and Washington have since the breakdown of the last ceasefire mostly exchanged messages via mediators. Iran has not yet commented on the Vice President's proposal to revive direct talks which would involve the most senior government officials to date, but on Wednesday reiterated their openness to a diplomatic solution.
Elsewhere, France is set to start deliveries of 10 million bbl of diesel from emergency reserves the country had committed to last month as part of a coordinated European 42 million bbl release of equal amounts of crude oil and diesel. The push came less than a month into the agreed upon 3-month window as Paris was seeking to ease domestic tensions after high fuel prices recently helped spark violent protests.
Diesel inventories also continued to decline in the U.S., Energy Information Administration data published Wednesday showed, with nationwide stocks of ultra-low sulfur diesel trailing year-ago levels by more than 10%. Commercial crude oil inventories, meanwhile, recorded the fourth consecutive weekly decline, coinciding with the end of the release of significant volumes from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve which until September helped meet the highest domestic crude oil demand in nine years, and the seasonally highest in decades.
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