Crude oil and refined product futures prices were moving lower Tuesday morning after President Trump said he was pausing plans to renew attacks on Iran and the administration eased some sanctions on Russian energy exports.
If the declines hold, it would snap a two-day streak of gains that had seen oil prices increase by about $7/bbl as tensions rose in the Persian Gulf region.
The NYMEX June West Texas Intermediate crude contract was down 43cts at about 11:15 a.m. ET Tuesday to $108.23/bbl in light trade on its last day in the front-month position. The more-active July WTI contract was falling by $1.16 to $103.22/bbl.
July ICE Brent crude was trading $1.83 lower to $110.27/bbl while August Brent was down $1.64 to $105.84/bbl.
Most activity in refined products trading was also focused on the next-month contracts Tuesday morning.
June RBOB was trading 10.85cts lower to $3.6522/gal while July prices were moving 8.64cts lower to $3.535/gal. June ULSD futures were off by 4.33cts to $4.0712/gal in light trade while July prices were 3.63cts in the red to $3.9734/gal.
Petroleum futures price movements continue to be headline driven, with markets Tuesday reacting to President Trump's Monday social media post saying he was postponing planned attacks on Iran following requests for a delay by U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf.
But Trump said the attacks could go forward in coming days if negotiations with Iran do not advance.
Prices are also being pressured by an announcement that the administration is extending for 30 days a waiver allowing some countries to continue purchasing Russian oil. The waiver applies to "the most vulnerable nations" and allows access to Russian oil currently at sea, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a social media post.
The decline in gasoline futures comes as motorists across the U.S. are preparing for the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, which traditionally signals the start of the summer driving season. AAA has said it expects 39.1 million motorists to take to the highways over the weekend, about 100,000 more than last year. The holiday comes as gas prices across the country are averaging more than $4.53/gal Tuesday, up about $1.36, or 42%, from this time last year.
Concerns about the global availability of oil and refined product as summer approaches continue to loom over markets. The American Petroleum Institute releases its weekly U.S. inventory data Tuesday evening while the Energy Information Administration releases its weekly Petroleum Status Report tomorrow morning. Both reports are likely to be closely watched and could have an immediate impact on prices.
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 Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 19, 2026 11:59 ET (15:59 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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