DTN Oil Update
Oil Rally Snaps After Big Week on Signs of New Iran Talks
SECAUCUS, N.J. (DTN) -- Oil prices fell Friday as expectation that the United States and Iran will head to the negotiation table again to resolve the Middle East conflict cooled a market that had rallied big on the week.
NYMEX WTI crude for June delivery settled down $3.13, or 3%, at $101.94 bb. For the week, it climbed about 8%.
By 2:30 p.m. EDT, the front-month ICE Brent crude for July slid $2.21, or 2%, to $108.19 bbl. For the week, it rose almost 10%.
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Downstream, NYMEX ULSD for June delivery eased $0.1338 to $3.9471 gallon. It rose about 4% on the week.
NYMEX RBOB futures for June dipped $0.0198 to $3.5992 gallon. It gained about 8% on the week.
The U.S. Dollar Index dropped 0.096 points to 98.02 against a basket of foreign currencies.
Crude and diesel futures extended declines from the prior day following reports that Tehran submitted a new proposal to Pakistani mediators aimed at ending the two-month Middle East conflict.
The move follows the White House's rejection of an earlier proposal by Iran to lift the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and defer nuclear talks. Specifics of the new offer remained unclear.
Tehran recently doubled down on its Strait of Hormuz blockade while Washington maintained its embargo on Iranian ports, leaving the region in a continued stalemate.
The conflict has persisted since the initial Feb. 27 airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel on Iran and Tehran's response in blocking the Hormuz, disrupting the flow of some 20 million bpd of petroleum liquids that make up a fifth of global supply. WTI gained a cumulative 55% over the past two months from the global supply seizure, while Brent rose nearly 50%.
In corporate energy news, ExxonMobil reported first-quarter net profits fell 45% to $4.2 billion due to regional disruptions despite record production levels in Guyana.
Chevron saw earnings drop too, by about 37% to $2.21 billion, from significant production and trade losses tied to the Iran war.