CME Group Inc.

05/20/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/20/2026 16:05

WTI Crude Oil futures plunged below $100 on Iran headlines.

WTI Crude Oil futures experienced a sharp breakdown, collapsing below the $100 per barrel mark after reaching an early session high of 104.45. This significant intraday decline was heavily driven by geopolitical developments suggesting that the U.S. and Iran are in the final stages of diplomatic negotiations. This geopolitical selling pressure completely overshadowed a highly bullish weekly EIA inventory report, which recorded a massive 7.8 million barrel draw in crude stocks, far outpacing the prior week's draw of 4.3 million barrels. Additionally, gasoline inventories fell by 1.5 million barrels, marking six consecutive weeks of drawdowns ahead of the high-demand Memorial Day holiday weekend. Concurrently, July Natural Gas futures fell roughly 3% as traders positioned themselves ahead of the upcoming storage report, where an injection of 96 billion cubic feet is broadly anticipated.
CME Group Inc. published this content on May 20, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on May 20, 2026 at 22:05 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]