Nymex Overview: Petroleum Futures Prices Rise After Trump Rejects Iranian Overture — OPIS

Crude oil and refined product futures contracts were seeing solid gains to start the week as markets reacted to President Trump's rejection of an Iranian proposal that could have led to a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. crude prices were rising by more than 3% at 11:15 a.m. ET, with the November West Texas Intermediate crude contract climbing by $2.94 to $95.35/bbl while December prices rose by $2.43 to $91.14/bbl.

Brent crude futures were seeing similar gains, with the lightly traded November contract up $3.31 to $107.63/bbl while the more-active December contract rose by $2.45 to $99.89/bbl.

Most activity in refined products was also focused on next-month contracts as they prepared to move to the front-month position later this week.

October ULSD was trading 1.84cts higher in very light activity to $4.7031/gal while the more-active November contract was rising by 6.28cts to $4.5249/gal.

October RBOB was up 1.19cts to $3.4053/gal, and November prices climbed by 1.64cts to $3.2039/gal.

Monday's gains come as refined product futures are coming off a multiple-day streak of losses, with RBOB prices falling in each of the last two trading sessions. ULSD futures are on track to snap a three-day streak of declines.

Prices are rising after President Trump over the weekend turned down an Iranian offer to re-open the Strait of Hormuz and resume negotiations aimed at ending the seven-month conflict with the United States.

News reports also indicated that Trump told aides he expected the U.S. would resume military strikes on Iranian targets following the November mid-term elections.

The gains also come despite reports that Middle East oil exports were surprisingly strong in September despite the ongoing conflict. Reuters reported that crude exports from the region averaged 12.8 million b/d during the month--the highest since the fighting started in February.

The gains also come as markets continue to monitor White House plans to control record-high retail diesel prices heading into the crucial election.

While administration officials have given conflicting statements about what direction those efforts could take, Trump on Sunday said he was still seriously considering a ban on U.S. exports of diesel.

The possibility of an export ban continues to face strong pushback from oil industry groups and some economists, who warn such a measure could eventually backfire and lead to higher fuel prices.

Other economists, however, say such dire warnings are incorrect and argue that a temporary ban or reduction in exports would help replenish historically low U.S. diesel stocks while U.S. refiners could change crude slates to produce more gasoline while reducing distillate output.

U.S. retail diesel prices averaged $6.4531/gal Monday morning. That's more than 7cts below the high of $6.5276/gal seen last week, but still nearly $2.70/gal higher than before the fighting began in late February.

U.S. gasoline prices averaged $4.4768/gal Monday, about 1.5cts off recent highs seen Friday.

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, steven.cronin@dowjones.com; Editing by Dean Visser, dean.visser@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 28, 2026 12:22 ET (16:22 GMT)