DTN Oil Update
Oil Crude Futures Edge Up After Trump Delays Tariff on Mexico
HOUSTON (DTN) -- The front-month NYMEX WTI and ICE Brent futures contracts edged up Thursday, following the announcement that the Trump administration will postpone for one month the additional 25% tariff that was imposed on Mexican imports this week.
The NYMEX WTI futures contracts for April delivery rose by $0.08 to $66.39 bbl while the front-month ICE Brent edged up by $0.21 to $69.51 bbl. In the opposite direction, the RBOB futures contract for April delivery fell by $0.0360 to $2.1010 gallon and the April ULSD futures contract declined by $0.0244 to $2.2126 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index fell by .19% to 104.07 against a basket of foreign currencies.
U.S. President Donald Trump postponed Thursday 25% tariffs on most imported goods from Mexico for a month. This is the second time Trump has postponed tariffs since he levied them on Mexico, China and Canada. "After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump said on Truth Social, according to AP.
The United States levied an extra 10% tariff on imported goods from China, and 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico starting March 4, which prompted immediate retaliatory tariffs of 15% and 25%, from China and Canada respectively.
Market participants continue monitoring the developments of the trade war initiated by the U.S. government against its main trade partners -- China, Canada and Mexico -- which has caused the two crude oil benchmarks to reach their lowest price levels since November.
On production news, PBF Energy announced Thursday that it intends to proceed with the repairs needed to restart its 157,000 bpd refinery in Martinez, California in two stages.
The refinery was damaged by a fire on Feb. 1 and remains shut down temporarily. The restart of the facility will be in two stages, with certain units, including the crude unit, expected to restart early in the second quarter. Restart of the remaining units, which primarily includes those that were scheduled for turnaround in the first quarter, should occur by the fourth quarter.
Total throughput during stage one is expected to be in the range of 85,000 bpd to 105,000 bpd, and the refinery is expected to be able to produce limited quantities of gasoline, jet fuel and intermediates.
