Keep this in mind: The WTI oil price you see each day is the front month NYMEX futures contract (APR26). Most of the futures contract are held by "Paper Traders" that must close out their positions a few days before the end of the month. This fact causes increased price volatility as we get closer to the expiration date.
At the time of this post APR26 was trading at $96.43/bbl. The oil price in Europe (Brent) was trading at $109.17/bbl and the oil price in Asia (Murban Crude Index) was trading at $140.41/bbl, up 13.2% today.
Trading Economics
WTI Oil
WTI crude oil futures were volatile at around $95 per barrel as markets remained highly sensitive to any escalation in the Middle East conflict.
> Iran's continued attacks on neighboring countries despite Israel signaling it would avoid targeting energy infrastructure, while both sides exchanged fresh blows, including strikes in Tehran.
> President Donald Trump downplayed the recent surge in oil prices, saying the situation could have been worse and may end soon. < "Soon" is starting to look like "in a few months" to me.
> The spread between WTI and Brent widened to about $14 per barrel, leaving Brent on track for weekly gains while WTI is still set to decline, as the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of crude from reserves, with the US set to release 172 million barrels from the SPR. < As Keith Kohl explained to us yesterday, these releases from the SPRs are like pissing on a forest fire.
> Also, US crude stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery and pricing point for West Texas Intermediate crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rose last week to 27.52 million barrels, their highest since August 2024. < Keep in mind that it takes months for oil tankers from the Persian Gulf to reach the U.S. and we do not import much oil from the Middle East anyway. Closing the Strait of Hormuz has the most impact on Asia.
US natural gas futures (APR26) fell to around $3.10 per MMBtu, giving back gains from the previous session, tracking a broader decline in energy commodities, following signals that the US may soon lift sanctions on Iranian oil at sea to ease price pressures.
> Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move could release roughly 140 million barrels, helping to stabilize prices over the next 10–14 days.
> Simultaneously, President Donald Trump stated that the US has no plans to deploy ground troops, while Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that Israel would hold off on further strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure, easing concerns after the largest day of attacks on energy assets since the conflict began, including severe damage to the world’s biggest LNG plant in Qatar.
> Meanwhile, the EIA’s latest weekly report showed a 35 billion cubic feet increase in storage, suggesting that heating demand is starting to ease as winter winds down. < Next week EIA will report a draw from storage of around 60 Bcf for the week ending March 20. It will be the last draw from storage during the 2025/2026 winter. At the end of March natural gas in U.S. storage will be very close to the 5-year average. If LNG exports remain near full capacity this year, the U.S. natural gas market should tighten up before the 2026/2027. This is why the DEC26 NYMEX contract for HH gas is trading today at $4.84/MMBtu. See NYMEX strip here: https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/energy/natural-gas/natural-gas.quotes.html
Oil & Gas Prices - March 20
Oil & Gas Prices - March 20
Dan Steffens
Energy Prospectus Group
Energy Prospectus Group
Re: Oil & Gas Prices - March 20
"just the facts ma'am"
pray for these guys deploying to the mideast
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/20/uss-boxer-and-11th-marine-expeditionary-unit-deploy-to-middle-east/
USS Boxer and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit deploy to Middle East
Mar 20, 2026
The United States military is deploying thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday.
The deployments of the USS Boxer, along with its 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and accompanying warship, comes as Reuters reported that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was not putting troops “anywhere,” but that if was going to, he would not tell journalists.
The sources, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not say what the role of the additional troops would be.
But one of the officials said the troops were departing the West Coast of the United States about 3 weeks ahead of schedule.
The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
pray for these guys deploying to the mideast
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/20/uss-boxer-and-11th-marine-expeditionary-unit-deploy-to-middle-east/
USS Boxer and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit deploy to Middle East
Mar 20, 2026
The United States military is deploying thousands of additional Marines and sailors to the Middle East, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday.
The deployments of the USS Boxer, along with its 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and accompanying warship, comes as Reuters reported that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering deploying thousands of U.S. troops to reinforce its operation in the Middle East.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that he was not putting troops “anywhere,” but that if was going to, he would not tell journalists.
The sources, who were speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not say what the role of the additional troops would be.
But one of the officials said the troops were departing the West Coast of the United States about 3 weeks ahead of schedule.
The White House and Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.