Oil futures rose, rebounding after three straight sessions of declines as the market watched for progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The October ICE Brent contract was trading 81 cents higher at $88.65/bbl on Thursday, with November up 38 cents at $87.32/bbl.
October West Texas Intermediate was trading 27 cents higher at $82.50/bbl, with the November WTI contract up 7 cents at $80.92/bbl.
Refined product futures were mixed. The September RBOB contract rose 1.11 cents to $3.3312/gal, with October up 0.3 cent at $2.9636/gal. September ULSD traded 4.86 cents lower at $4.2114/gal, with October down 3.32 cents at $4.1121/gal.
Traders weighed diplomatic optimism against limited evidence of a meaningful improvement in physical flows, according to a Kotak Neo analyst, adding that the market remained vulnerable to sharp reversals if progress toward reopening the strait falters.
