FX.co ★ Heating Oil Hits 5-Week Low

Heating oil futures for delivery in New York Harbor slipped toward $3.60 per gallon, a five-week low, as traders awaited clearer signals from the latest round of complex US–Iran negotiations that could gradually normalize Middle Eastern energy exports. Both sides had recently flagged progress in talks aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but renewed hostilities have cast doubt on the prospects for a definitive agreement. Since the war began in March, exports of distillate products from the region have been heavily disrupted, straining refinery operations and driving heating oil futures to a record $4.60 per gallon that month. At the same time, US distillate inventories unexpectedly increased in mid-May, diverging from a decline in gasoline stocks and indicating that refiners shifted output toward diesel and jet fuel in response to global transportation fuel shortages.