Petroleum futures were positing solid gains at midday Monday as the market assessed the likelihood of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and awaited release of holiday-delayed government supply and demand data.
The NYMEX February West Texas Intermediate crude contract was up $1.37 to $58.11/bbl and March WTI was $1.32 higher at $57.88/bbl.
The lightly traded ICE February Brent contract, which expires at the end of December, was up $1.34 to $61.98/bbl and the more-active March contract added $1.34 to $61.58/bbl.
Most activity in refined product was also focused on the next-month contracts.
The NYMEX January ULSD contract was 3.72cts higher at $2.1442/gal and the February contract was up 3.83cts to $2.1452/gal.
Gasoline futures were also trading higher, with the January RBOB contract up 3.27cts to $1.7298 and February rising by 3.45cts to $1.7419/gal.
Monday’s gains come after petroleum prices fell last week ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s weekend meeting with President Trump.
While reports described the meeting as productive, a number of issues remain unresolved. Russia ahead of the meeting launched a drone and missile attack on Kyiv, a move that increased doubts that a deal could be reached that would allow for the easing of western sanctions on Russian energy exports.
The Energy Information Administration is scheduled on Monday to release its petroleum supply and demand data for the week ended Dec. 19. The holiday-delayed report, which was expected to be issued at midmorning, has been delayed, EIA said in a morning notification.
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 ; Editing by Jeffrey Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-29-25 1204ET