Crude and refined products rose, but only moderately, despite another weekend attack by Ukrainian drones on Russian refineries.
Some of the reticence among buyers to chase futures higher Monday may be rooted in reports of a refusal by Iraq to agree to additional oil production cuts.
Small increases were witnessed for crude. June West Texas Intermediate was up 50cts at $78.76/bbl and July Brent was up 29cts at $83.08/bbl.
The expectation going into the OPEC+ meeting on June 1 is that the cartel will extend production cuts first employed last summer. There is clearly not a lot of speculative length in the market, and that is limiting some of the selling pressure.
Gasoline demand is viewed as a disappointment year to date, but 2024 could mirror 2021 with a surge in consumption during the summer crunch weeks. This weekend AAA predicted a robust travel calendar for Memorial Day weekend.
Gasoline action was subdued, with losses of 1-1.25cts/gal in most futures months. All seven of the spot venues tracked by OPIS saw increases, but they ranged from 0.5cts/gal to a cent at best. Several hundred thousand barrels per day of refining capacity should be restarted between now and June 1.
June RBOB was lightly traded with a gain of 1.13cts to $2.511/gal. The drone attack in Russia was at Volgograd (previously Stalingrad), and there was no word as to whether Russia might need to quell diesel exports or perhaps even import an occasional shipment of gasoline.
Diesel is in the middle of typical May demand doldrums with plenty of coverage focused on year-on-year demand slippage. Futures action saw the June ULSD contract move up 1.38cts to $2.4482/gal, but cash markets were negative in Group 3 and Chicago.
This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
-- Reporting by Tom Kloza, tkloza@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-13-24 1240ET
