Energy Markets 3 January 2026 - 13 January 2026

NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026, 06:53 EST — Premarket NY Harbor ULSD futures — the main U.S. benchmark for heating oil and diesel — climbed 2.8 cents to $2.1476 a gallon. Traders are eyeing resistance close to $2.16 and support near $2.07. Meanwhile, WTI crude gained 49 cents to $58.25 a barrel and Brent advanced 54 cents to $62.53.

Oil traders were braced for a volatile open on Sunday after Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA asked some joint ventures to cut crude output as a U.S. oil embargo froze exports following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in a strike on Saturday, sources said. The company pointed to swelling inventories and a shortage of diluents — lighter oil used to thin heavy crude for shipment — the sources said. Reuters Brent crude, the international benchmark, last settled at $60.75 a barrel on Friday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate closed at $57.32. The global oil market is coming off 2025 losses near 20% for both contracts, leaving prices sensitive to fresh disruption headlines even as traders weigh longer-term oversupply concerns. Reuters

NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 12:54 ET — Market closed Oil traders are bracing for the next crude-futures open after U.S. forces struck Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro, while state company PDVSA said production and refining were operating normally. Two people familiar with PDVSA operations said the attack did not damage oil facilities, though the port of La Guaira near Caracas was badly hit. A U.S. tanker blockade announced in December and the seizure of two Venezuelan crude cargoes already pushed exports to roughly half their November pace, according to monitoring data and internal documents. Reuters

Oil prices settled slightly lower on the first trading day of 2026 after Brent and U.S. crude posted their biggest annual loss since 2020, each falling nearly 20% in 2025, as investors weighed oversupply concerns and looked to a policy meeting on Sunday by OPEC+, the group of OPEC and allied producers such as Russia. Brent futures closed down 10 cents at $60.75 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 10 cents to $57.32; Brent logged its third straight annual decline, its longest losing streak on record. “Oil prices are locked in this long-term trading range,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. Reuters The subdued start to the year matters because crude prices feed into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel costs and can sway inflation readings that investors and policymakers track closely.