DTN Oil Update
Oil Down Another 6% on Selloff Over Mideast Peace Hopes
SECAUCUS, N.J. (DTN) -- Energy markets extended their losses Tuesday on growing outreach by the Trump administration and international negotiators to ending the U.S. war with Iran.
Crude futures fell, pulling diesel and gasoline prices sharply lower for a second day in a row on comments from U.S. President Donald Trump kept hopes alive for a settlement to the conflict.
NYMEX WTI for September delivery settled down $4.57, or 5.7%, at $75.77. The U.S. crude benchmark fell 5% on Monday, Aug. 3.
P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
ICE Brent for October delivery finished down $4.41, or 5.3%, at $79.36 bbl. The global crude benchmark lost 4.7% in the prior session.
Among refined products, NYMEX ULSD futures for September closed down $0.1067, or 2.8%, at $ 3.7705 gallon. It slid 6% on Monday.
NYMEX September RBOB finished lower by $0.1445, or 4.9%, at $2.8522 gallon, extending the 8% tumble from the previous session.
The U.S. Dollar Index was little changed at 99.785 against a basket of currencies.
Energy prices deepened their downward momentum on reports that Tehran has softened its public resistance to allowing European nations to conduct demining operations in the Strait of Hormuz. The move was viewed by diplomats as a potential sweetener to normalizing transit on the waterway and easing a new peace deal with Washington.
Broader de-escalation and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remain the primary focus for negotiators, said media reports citing Qatari officials acting as intermediaries between Washington and Tehran.
A draft framework aimed at securing a short-term resolution was already in circulation among participating delegations, even as direct talks between the U.S. and Iran remained off the table, the reports added.
Further south, Saudi Arabia was deploying Oman-mediated diplomacy to stave off a renewed clash with Yemen-based Houthi militants, in a bid to protect its Red Sea oil infrastructure from further damage.
On the U.S. inventory front, traders await the American Petroleum Institute's reading on stockpiles of crude, gasoline and distillates for the week ended July 31.
The report will land ahead of official inventory data for the same week due from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) at 10:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
For the week ended July 24, the EIA reported that commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 7.2 million bbl to 404.5 million bbl and were 22.2 million bbl, or 5.2%, below the same week last year.