Oil Prices Edge Higher to End Turbulent Trading Week


   
Karim Bastati
DTN Analyst

   VIENNA (DTN) - Oil futures were steady Friday (11/13) morning, with most 
contracts remaining largely flat on the week after having clawed back a 
substantial chunk of the losses from Monday's sell-off during a turbulent 
trading week.

   By 09:15am ET, ICE Brent for January delivery was up $0.82 to trade near 
$96.64 bbl, and NYMEX WTI for December delivery rose $0.34 to $89.08 bbl.

   Downstream, NYMEX ULSD for December delivery ticked up $0.0366 to $4.3231 
gallon, while front-month RBOB futures slid $0.0025 to $2.6683 gallon.

   The US dollar index remained little changed, up 0.035 points to 103.13 
against a basket of foreign currencies.

   Hopes of an imminent end to the war that resulted in the largest oil supply 
disruption in history, sparked by dovish comments from the White House and 
signs of diplomatic progress at the beginning of the week, quickly faded amid 
increasingly conflicting messaging around U.S.-Iranian peace prospects and 
continued attacks on tankers and oil infrastructure in the Middle East. The 
largest jump in prices this week came in reaction to U.S. President Donald 
Trump on Thursday saying that the U.S. should not seek a deal with Iran, and 
directing the Vice President, the most senior U.S. official leading diplomatic 
efforts to date, to instead focus on domestic policy.

   Reactions to this week's market outlook updates by main forecasters were 
mixed. The International Energy Agency on Friday said that the global oil 
market last month moved into a surplus for the first time since the beginning 
of the war, and revised higher the expected decline in global demand to 2.7 
million bpd averaged over the year. While rather bearish for crude, the same 
report also flagged a continuously tight diesel market that is likely to extend 
well into 2027, even when factoring in the sizable, coordinated release of 
strategic diesel stocks from its European partners.

   U.S. Energy Information Administration data published Thursday was equally 
mixed. Crude demand soared to a new seasonal high as refiners continued to 
profit from global fuels shortage induced high margins. At the same time, 
however, surprisingly large builds to refined fuel inventories - distillate 
fuel oil stocks alone jumped by 4.1 million bbl last week - stoked the flames 
of demand growth woes.

    




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