DTN Oil Update
Oil Futures Settle Up $2 on Israel-Gaza Ceasefire News
HOUSTON (DTN) -- Nearby delivery month crude oil futures rose nearly $2 on Wednesday, after Israel accepted a ceasefire with Gaza and despite the Energy Information Administration reporting a build on commercial crude oil and gasoline stocks last week.
The bullish sentiment was supported by an announcement from U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday stating that Israel has agreed on the terms for a 60-day ceasefire proposed by Gaza, according to media reports.
The front-month NYMEX WTI futures contract settled up $2.00 at $67.45 bbl, while the September ICE Brent futures contract rose $2.00 to $69.11 bbl settlement.
August RBOB futures rose 2.26cts to $2.1229 gallon settlement and the ULSD futures contract for August delivery settled 8.48cts higher at $2.4177 gallon.
The U.S. dollar declined by 0.022 points to 96.45, compared to a basket of foreign currencies.
This morning, the EIA reported domestic commercial crude oil inventories rose by 3.8 million bbl to 419.0 million bbl in the week ending June 27. The figure was well above the 680,000 bbl build reported by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday for the same reference week.
Gasoline stocks increased by 4.2 million bbl week-over-week to reach 232.1 million bbl last week. That figure was higher than the 1.920 million bbl increase reported by API for the same period.
In contrast, distillate fuel stocks fell by 1.7 million bbl to 103.6 million bbl last week, according to EIA data. The draw was smaller than the 3.458 million bbl decline API reported for the same week.
Market participants are focused on the upcoming OPEC+ meeting scheduled for this weekend, where the group is expected to announce an increase in its August output of 411,000 bpd.
Additional attention is also on July 9, which marks the end of the 90-day pause on tariffs declared by the Trump administration on May 12.
