DTN Oil Update
Oil Futures Rose Despite Thin Demand, USD Strong
HOUSTON (DTN) -- Crude oil markets closed the session with gains on Tuesday, despite thin activity seen on Christmas Eve and the U.S. dollar remaining strong against a basket of currencies.
Oil futures for February delivery traded at the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange advanced Tuesday amid sluggish demand driven by the absence of most market participants due to the year-end holidays.
The NYMEX WTI futures contract for February delivery jumped $0.93 to $70.17 barrel (bbl) while the February ICE Brent contract advanced $1.02 bbl to $73.65 bbl. â?¯
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar continued gaining ground against a basket of foreign currencies at 108.0, up 19, as investors positioned ahead of Initial Jobless Claims data to be released on Thursday, Dec. 16.
In the week ended Dec. 14, the seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims reached 220,000, the Bureau of Labor Statistics recently said. â?¯According to the median consensus of economists and analysts, the December figure is expected to climb to 225,000 due to increasing layoffs.
Downstream, NYMEX RBOB January futures gained $0.0269 to $1.9652 gallon, but the front-month NYMEX ULSD futures contract dropped by $0.0021 to $2.2242 gallon.
The national average for retail regular gasoline ticked higher for the second consecutive week, up 0.8cts to $3.024 gallon as of Monday (12/23), which is 9.2 cents down, year-over-year, the latest data from the Energy Information Administration show.
Prices across the major PADDs remained mixed, ranging from a drop of 4.6cts to a jump of 8.5 cents on the week.
East Coast PADD 1 was the biggest loser for the week profiled, with the average retail gasoline price sliding 4.6 cents to a more than 3-1/2 year low at $2.945 gallon.
At $2.935 gallon, the Midwest PADD 2 price jumped 5.1 cents to a seven-week high while the Gulf Coast PADD 3 price spiked 8.5 cents to $2.647 gallon, a nine-week high. The Rocky Mountain PADD 4 price rose 4.8 cents to a five-week high $2.887 gallon and the West Coast PADD 5 price fell a penny to $3.775 gallon, the lowest level since late June 2021.
The EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report will be delayed by two days this week due to the Christmas holiday.
The WSPR will now be released on Friday (12/27) at 1:00 PM ET, according to the website. Also, the Weekly Natural Gas Storage will also be delayed with the data now scheduled for release on Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. EST.
Maria Eugenia Garcia can be reached at Maria.Garcia@dtn.com
