Petroleum futures prices were falling at midday Friday, pushed lower in light post-holiday trade as efforts to broker an end to the Russia-Ukraine war remain in the news.
Oil prices were down by about $1/bbl at 11:30 a.m. ET, with February West Texas Intermediate crude off by $1.01 to $57.34/bbl and March prices down 99cts to $57.14/bbl. Both February and March Brent crude were down by $1 to $61.24 and $60.80/bbl, respectively.
With the end of the month approaching, most activity in refined products was focused on February contracts.
February RBOB prices were 2.98cts lower to $1.7243/gal while lightly traded January futures were down 3.16cts to $1.7155/gal. February ULSD was moving 1.98cts lower to $2.1339/gal while January futures fell by 2.3cts to $2.1346/gal.
Even with the morning’s losses, most petroleum futures are on track to end the shortened holiday week with gains, though any increase in selling could send ULSD to a loss.
Prices are facing headwinds Friday as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he plans to meet with President Trump on Sunday to discuss U.S. efforts to broker a peach between his country and Russia.
Reports indicate Zelensky seems to fell progress is being made on a U.S. proposal to end the fighting. A peace deal could lead to an easing of Western sanctions on Russian petroleum exports.
The three-day federal holiday around Christmas means that the Energy Information Administration delayed release of its weekly petroleum inventory and demand data, with data for the week ending Dec. 19 not being released until next week.
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 Steve Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-26-25 1203ET