Highest U.S. Crude Spreads in Years Signal Tight Summer Market
- Key oil futures spread surges to highest in nearly four years
- Stockpiles at Cushing oil storage hub at lowest since 2018
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The U.S. oil futures market is increasingly signaling that summer won’t bring any relief to surging energy prices.
The most telling sign is the spread between oil prices for delivery in April and those for delivery in May surging above $2 a barrel, the highest since 2018. The spread, between May and June also skyrocketed to the highest since at least 2007. Inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for benchmark U.S. crude futures are the lowest for this time of year since 2008 when U.S. crude was trading over $100 a barrel.