WTI Jumps Nearly 10% on Week Ahead Labor Day Holiday


   
Maria Eugenia Garcia
DTN Energy Editor

   HOUSTON, TX (DTN) -Oil futures closed mixed Friday (9/4)  amid thin trading 
activity ahead of the U.S. Labor Day holiday amid a U.S.-Iran hostility 
escalation and the expectation of tightening global supplies.

   Crude benchmarks edged up following U.S. airstrikes against Iranian targets 
and Tehran's retaliatory drone and missile counterfire against U.S. positions 
across the Gulf region.

   Physical energy flows through the  Strait of Hormuz  have plummeted from  
10-day average of 13 transits to one single digit transit, according to vessel 
tracker data.

   Limited U.S. inventories have also supported the bullish sentiment in the 
oil futures markets after the  U.S. Energy Information Administration data 
recently showed commercial crude stocks fell 4.5 million bbl last week, marking 
the first inventory draw in five weeks. However, ULSD futures fell on the day 
despite the supply tightness caused by the Russian ban to exports and scarce 
domestic product due to intermittent attacks from Ukraine.  

   Market participants are now focused on the OPEC+ meeting scheduled on Sunday 
(9/6), where the producer group is expected to leave October output policy 
unchanged after completing the scheduled unwinding of voluntary production cuts.

   In U.S. economic data, non-farm payrolls surged by 162,000 in August, far 
exceeding market expectations of a 56,000 gain. The U.S. Bureau of Labor 
Statistics reported Friday (9/4) that the national unemployment rate held 
steady at 4.1%.

   NYMEX WTI crude for October delivery was little changed at $91.32 bbl, a 
nearly 10% weekly increase. ICE Brent for November edged up by $0.55 to $96.07 
bbl, a 9% weekly gain.

   NYMEX ULSD for October delivery eased $0.0506, or 1.10%, to $4.54305 gallon. 
Front month NYMEX RBOB rose $0.757 to $3.2106 gallon.

   The U.S. dollar index gained 0.230 points to 99.11 against a basket of 
currencies.




(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.