Crude oil and refined product futures prices were moving higher Tuesday, recovering some ground following Monday's sharp selloff as markets reassessed the likelihood of a deal to end the fighting in Iran.
Oil prices were up more than 3% at about 11 a.m. ET, with NYMEX May West Texas Intermediate crude gaining $3.02 to $91.15/bbl and Junes prices rising by $3.18 to $88.55/bbl.
European benchmark Brent crude was back above the $100/bbl mark, with the lightly traded May contract up $2.61 to $102.55/bbl and the more-active June contract rising by $2.96 to $98.88/bbl.
Crude prices remain about $2/bbl below the day's earlier highs.
Most activity in refined product futures was also focused on the next month contract.
ULSD prices were seeing strong gains heading into the afternoon, with April prices up 23.77cts, about 5.8%, to $4.2937/gal. May prices were moving 23.01cts higher to $3.9833/gal. While diesel futures have seen outsized gains amid supply disruptions caused by the war in Iran, prices Tuesday were also being supported by a fire Monday at Valero's 424,000 b/d refinery in Port Arthur, Texas.
RBOB futures were rising by more than 3%, with April prices ahead by 9.83cts to $3.0732/gal and May prices up 10.73cts to $3.0347/gal. The move higher for gasoline futures comes as the national average retail price for gasoline is approaching $4/gal. Prices across the U.S. were averaging $3.975/gal late Tuesday morning, up more than 2cts from Monday.
Petroleum futures prices had tumbled on Monday after President Trump said the U.S. and Iran were conducting talks aimed at ending the fighting and that the U.S. forces would hold off on strikes for five days as talks progressed.
Iranian officials, however, denied that talks were taking place and Iran has continued launching attacks against Israel.
In an analysis Tuesday, Zaheer Anwari, chief executive officer at The Revacy Fund, noted that despite talk of a possible peace deal, " the situation in the Strait of Hormuz remains the central concern for market participants."
"Despite some isolated shipments going through, the broader flow of oil tankers was still constrained as the waterway remains effectively closed for traffic," he said. "Without a clear resolution to the tensions within the period announced by the U.S., volatility is likely to persist, with risks skewed toward further increases in prices."
While petroleum prices were moving higher Tuesday morning, WTI futures remain about $7/bbl below levels seen last week while Brent prices remain about $10/bbl lower. RBOB futures are still about 20cts/gal off Friday's finish while ULSD is about 30cts lower.
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
March 24, 2026 12:02 ET (16:02 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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