Crude oil futures rose about $2 around midday Friday as the possibility of more U.S. sanctions against Russian petroleum products triggered global supply worries.
Diesel contracts also jumped as below-average temperatures in a large portion of the U.S. driven by a polar vortex sparked heating oil demand.
At 11:45 a.m. ET, February Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $1.80 to around $75.70/bbl and March WTI was $1.65 higher to $74.90/bbl.
London-based March Brent crude increased $1.85 to $78.80/bbl and April Brent gained $1.70 to $77.95/bbl.
For the week, both WTI and Brent are on track to rack up gains of about $2.
According to a Reuters report, the U.S. will impose some of its harshest sanctions on the Russian oil industry, designating 180 vessels, traders and two major oil companies as well as top Russian oil executives.
Nymex February ULSD futures jumped 8.3cts to $2.461/gal and March ULSD climbed 8.05cts to $2.4385/gal. February RBOB was up 3cts at $2.0586/gal and March RBOB increased 3.05cts to around $2.087/gal.
A large swath of the U.S. is currently under a prolonged cold spell that is expected to last until late January. Parts of Texas and the South are also being battered by unusual winter storms which should sharply increase distillate demand as a residential and commercial heating fuel.
Surging petroleum futures on Friday came against the backdrop of a sharply higher dollar and weakness in the equity markets. A strong December U.S. jobs report released earlier Friday smashed investor hopes that the Federal Reserve would further cut interest rates to stimulate the economy.
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 Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-10-25 1218ET
