Oil markets are mixed this morning following a week of multi-year high prices. After some early morning sell off in the market, crude is now trading mostly flat. Crude prices are down 5 cents to trade at $73.40. Of note, WTI has gained around $4.50 (6.7%) since Monday, reaching its highest level since November 2014.
While crude prices haven’t made much movement this morning, fuel prices are moving higher. Diesel traded mostly flat yesterday, gaining only a few points before the market closed. Today, diesel has picked up an additional 92 points and is trading at $2.1874. Gasoline saw slightly more price action yesterday, gaining over a penny. This morning, gasoline prices have increased by 1.5 cent to trade at $2.1486 currently. Both products are trading over 10 cents higher than a week ago.
The Brent-WTI spread has continued to narrow this week. This morning, the spread is only $5.25 between the two benchmarks, down from $10 just over a week ago. Margins decrease on exports for U.S. refiners as the spread becomes slim, keeping more product in the U.S and eventually putting downward pressure on WTI prices. The spread has fallen back to levels not seen since March.