Petroleum futures were down at midday Tuesday on some weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data and the absence of tropical weather activity, leaving refined product contracts flirting with lows not seen in months.

U.S. equity markets were all pointed higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by more than 600 points, but that did nothing to lift crude oil or refined product contracts.

Most of Tuesday's weakness in petroleum is likely due to economic reports from China, which some analysts believe may be close to a full-blown housing crisis.

Others in the market said the lack of any tropical storm activity in the Atlantic is also pressuring crude oil and refined product futures. The National Hurricane Center on Tuesday said it does not expect any tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin over the next seven days.

Further, some market sources suggest there may be some position squaring ahead of what could be a strong Republican showing in November's U.S. general election on speculation a second Trump term may eventually be bearish for crude oil prices. 


   NYMEX West Texas Intermediate contracts for the second half of 2026 have   slipped below $70/bbl.

The August WTI contract recovered from some steeper morning declines and was down by 97cts to $80.94/bbl at midday. Brent crude, which fell as low as $83.30/bbl in the morning session, was off by 82cts to $84.02/bbl.

The NYMEX August RBOB contract was 2.16cts lower at $2.47/gal and spot prices are continuing to struggle with discounts to futures reported across the country.

In addition, there are a number of wholesale markets in which refiners are pricing rack barrels under OPIS lows.

Diesel prices were also weaker and the slowdown in Asia has more ramifications for the middle of the barrel than for gasoline. The NYMEX August ULSD contract was 4.3cts lower at $2.4706/gal and U.S. spot market prices were off by 4-6cts/gal.

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 Tom Kloza, tkloza@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber,   jbarber@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-16-24 1238ET