WTI Eyes Weekly Loss, Brent Up Amid Iran War Volatility


   
Karim Bastati
DTN Analyst

   VIENNA (DTN) -- Crude and fuel futures were mixed in choppy trading Friday 
(3/20) morning, with WTI headed for its first weekly loss since February on 
U.S. efforts to boost domestic supplies even as global oil shipments remained 
in a flux from the three-week long Iran war.

   By 08:25 am ET, NYMEX WTI for April delivery slid $0.34 to $95.54 bbl, for a 
0.2% decline on the day. For the week, the U.S. crude benchmark fell almost 2% 
for its first prospective decline in five weeks.

   ICE Brent for May delivery retreated $0.36 to $108.29 bbl for a dip of 0.2% 
on the day as well. For the week, the global crude benchmark remained up 5%. 

   NYMEX ULSD futures for April delivery were up $0.0076 to $4.3496 gallon, and 
front-month RBOB futures advanced $0.0187 to $3.1458 gallon.

   The US dollar index strengthened by 0.165 points to 99.225 against a basket 
of foreign currencies.

   The Iran conflict has expanded to energy infrastructure previously spared 
after Israel on Wednesday attacked Iran's largest natural gas field. Iran has 
since in retaliation struck some of the largest gas production and processing 
facilities in the region.

   Front-month Brent had seen price fluctuations between $99.54 bbl and $119.13 
bbl.

   The Brent-WTI spread jumped 40% in the initial days of the war when tanker 
traffic through the Strait of Hormuz came to a virtual standstill.

   The U.S. announcement to release 172 million bbl of crude oil from the 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve sent the differential soaring, with WTI now trading 
at its largest discount to Brent since the western embargo on Russian oil 
imports in 2022.

   In an effort to rein in the rapid rise in oil prices, the U.S. last week 
temporarily waived sanctions on Russian oil and earlier this week suspended the 
Jones Act for 60 days, effectively opening the door to domestic fuel shipments 
via tankers. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday even floated the idea 
of suspending sanctions on Iranian oil trade which were instated during 
President Trump's first term.

   IEA member nations are set to release hundreds of millions of barrels of oil 
from their strategic reserves in the coming weeks, and major naval powers on 
Thursday issued a joint statement expressing their readiness to ensure safe 
passage through the Strait of Hormuz. For now, Iran remains in control over the 
globe's largest oil chokepoint amid an expanding war in the world's largest oil 
producing region.




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