NYMEX Overview: Petroleum Prices Move Off Earlier Lows but Still Seeing Sharp Declines — OPIS

Crude oil and refined product futures prices have moved off earlier lows but continue to see solid losses Monday as markets react to the latest easing of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.

U.S. oil prices were trading nearly 6% lower at 11 a.m. ET, with the September West Texas Intermediate crude contract down $5 to $79.67/bbl, more than $1 off earlier lows. October WTI was moving lower by $3.91 to $77.58/bbl.

Brent crude losses were lighter, with the October contract trading 4.6% lower at $83.81/bbl, a loss of $4.12. The front-month contract had traded as low as $81.55/bbl earlier in the day. November prices were down by $3.29 to $81.29/bbl.

ULSD futures were seeing losses of about 3.5%, with the September contract shedding 14.34cts to $3.9521/gal, nearly 5cts higher than previous lows. The October contract was down by 12.79cts to $3.8299/gal.

RBOB futures were about 4% lower, with the September contract down by 12.95cts to $2.9847/gal and October prices sinking by 11.47cts to $2.719/gal.

The decline in prices comes as President Trump on Saturday said he was pausing planned strikes on Iran as the two countries were set to resume talks aimed ending the fighting. It's the latest wrinkle in the ongoing conflict that has seen petroleum prices over the past five months move sharply on headlines about the fighting and the status of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said the new talks with Iran would start Monday.

"Oil prices are likely to stay tied to the pace of diplomatic progress and the state of shipping conditions in the region," said Joseph Dahrieh, managing director at the Tickmill brokerage. "Continued easing on both fronts could extend the declines, while any new tensions or fresh disruption to maritime traffic could quickly drive prices back up."

Prices are also being pressured by news that OPEC and its allies over the weekend approved increasing production by about 188,000 b/d in September, the final step in unwinding previous voluntary production cuts. While such a move would normally have a significant impact on trading, disruptions caused by the ongoing war in Iran and the disruption of tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea continue to raise concern about global supply.

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

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 03, 2026 12:03 ET (16:03 GMT)