Petroleum futures were again higher at midday Tuesday, with the front-month August Brent contract surpassing $85/bbl in morning trading.

The gains are coming at a time of the year that has been supportive of petroleum futures in recent years and the market is largely shrugging off amber lights from lackluster U.S. gasoline and diesel demand so far this year.

Phillips 66 officials speaking at a JP Morgan conference on Tuesday morning said domestic gasoline demand has been disappointing, adding that weak diesel consumption is possibly signaling an economic slowdown.

But those comments did little to ease futures buying. The NYMEX July RBOB contract was up by 3.02cts to $2.4771/gal just before midday.

The Energy Information Administration is set to release its supply and demand estimates for the week ended Friday on Thursday morning and many in the market are expecting another uninspiring motor fuel demand reading.

The American Petroleum Institute is scheduled to release its U.S. supply and demand numbers later on Tuesday.

Diesel futures were also higher, with the NYMEX July ULSD contract 3.06cts higher at $2.5131/gal. The market appears to be less concerned about damage to Russian refineries from Ukrainian drone attacks, despite overnight attacks that set some Russian bulk terminals ablaze.

Crude oil futures are attracting the lion's share of attention and an $85/bbl Brent number puts the market on a footing where prices could easily rise to the $86-$90/bbl range with a strong demand reading from EIA or the American Petroleum Institute.

The August Brent contract rose to as high as $85.28/bbl in morning trading and was up by 96cts to $85.21/bbl at midday. The soon-to-expire NYMEX July West Texas Intermediate contract was up by $1.19 to $81.52/bbl at midday.


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 Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-18-24 1234ET