Prices trade higher as Trump considers seizing Iranian oil tankers
February 11, 2026
The energy markets are stuck in congestion trying to figure out what will be the next shoe to drop. Crude traded in a dollar range yesterday. There is currently no conviction and that showed up in the volume of trade which was on the light side yesterday.
The API inventory report estimated that crude oil inventories rose by 13.4 million barrels, gasoline inventories were up 3.26 million barrels, and distillates were down 1.9 million barrels.
The average estimates for today’s DOE inventory update from the Bloomberg survey are for crude stocks to be down 204,000 barrels, gasoline up 639,000 barrels and distillates down 2.085 million barrels.
The five-year average for propane inventories in this reporting week is a draw of 3.049 million barrels. The largest draw for this reporting week was 4.508 million barrels. With the cold front that covered a large portion of the US it is expected that a draw to inventories near the record amount will be on hand for today.
President Trump said he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East. The President also suggested the US could start seizing tanker carrying Iranian crude to pressure the regime into making an agreement. This type of move would likely be seen as an act of war by Iran and would likely cause retaliation.
Prices are trading higher to start today as the headlines are offering support on the geopolitical front.
A fire hit Valero’s 86,000 bpd Ardmore refinery in Oklahoma on Monday, and five people were taken to the hospital. The fire was extinguished.