Crude oil and refined product futures prices were trading higher ahead of midday Friday on market optimism over the potential easing of trade tensions between the U.S. and China and stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data.

Contracts are on track for week-to-week gains, as markets for the moment have shaken off concerns about oversupply following Saturday's decision by OPEC and allied producers to continue unwinding voluntary production cuts and raise output by 411,000 b/d in July.

U.S. oil prices were up by about 1.8% at about 11:20 a.m. ET, with the July West Texas Intermediate contract up by $1 to $64.37/bbl. The August WTI contract was 87cts higher at $63.32/bbl.

The August Brent crude contract was up by 83cts, or about 1.2%, to $66.17/bbl, while the September contract was 71cts higher at $65.46/bbl.

Crude prices are by about $3.50/bbl from last Friday's settlement.

ULSD futures were leading refined products futures higher, with the NYMEX July ULSD contract up by 2.18cts, or about 1%, to $2.1163/gal. The August contract was 1.94cts in the black at $2.1042/gal.

Gasoline contracts were also higher, though the gains were weaker than those for ULSD. The NYMEX July RBOB contract was 0.82ct, or 0.4%, higher at $2.0711/gal and the August contract was up by 1.18cts to $2.0534/gal.

ULSD futures are nearly 11.5cts above where they ended last week and RBOB contract is up by about 6.2cts week to week. The gains come a day after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke by phone about trade issues. Trump described the conversation as positive, raising hopes that trade tensions will ease.

In addition, petroleum markets found support from Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the U.S. added 139,000 jobs in May, exceeding most expectations. That eased worries about the economic impact of Trump tariff policies and sent equity markets higher.


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 Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-06-25 1240ET