Volatile oil market pushes fuel prices higher
May 8, 2026
There are a lot of headlines and reports about the Iran and US current negotiations, some positive some negative which leaves us all waiting and watching to see how things progress. Iran called the US proposal more of a wish list rather than a serious proposal. US and Pakastani official struck a more optimistic tone about the possibility that an agreement that would end the war and begin the negotiation process of a more detailed long-term peace agreement will come soon.
Yesterday was a volatile day with WTI crude oil having an $8 dollar trading range. The markets were initially much lower to start as the news that Iran had put a proposal on the table that would open the strait. This had those traders long the market selling out of position on this news. As the day went on the details of this deal started to emerge and it became apparent that this deal wouldn’t float and the market came storming back and finished near unchanged.
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President, Beth Hammack, said she expects the central bank to hold interest rates steady well into the future as it navigates a climate of considerable uncertainty.
Shipping Group Maersk warn on Thursday that the Iran war had pushed its fuel costs up by nearly $500 million a month and that the energy crisis would persist even if a peace deal was reached. It said the war had added roughly 3 billion Danish crowns or $472.7 million to the company’s monthly costs as bunker fuel prices rose from around $600 per metric ton to just under $1,000 per metric ton.
US Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, said that Iran appears to have cut back oil production by 400,000 bpd and is likely to reduce it more as its storage units fill. A US naval blockade of Iranian ports has cut Tehran’s oil exports, stranding a growing stockpile of crude oil tankers as Iranian storage sites run out of space. Analytics firm Vortexa said just a handful of ships carrying Iranian crude oil have left the Gulf of Oman between April 13 and 25. That’s down over 80% from a comparable period in March, when Iran exported 23.4 million barrels.
Looking at the NYMEX future market charts give us a visual of where the markets are at, the last few days have produced big trading ranges as these markets react to headlines during all the uncertainty. Prices are currently trading in the middle of these big trading ranges just waiting to see what happens next.