Petroleum futures prices were falling ahead of midday Tuesday on reports of progress in talks between the U.S. and Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear enrichment program.

The more-active Nymex April West Texas Intermediate oil contract was down 63cts to $62.12/bbl and the March WTI, which expires at the end of the week, was 66cts lower at $62.23/bbl.

The ICE April Brent contract was $1.53 lower at $67.12/bbl and the May contract was down $1.47 at $66.50/bbl.

Most activity in refined products was also focused on the next-month contract. The lightly traded Nymex March ULSD contract was 1.62cts lower at $2.3717/gal and the more-active April contract was 0.35ct lower at $2.2968/gal.

The spread was narrower for RBOB futures, with the March RBOB contract off 0.86ct to $1.9024/gal and April down 0.91ct to $2.1309/gal.

Tuesday's declines come as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said negotiations with the U.S. have resulted in a "path for a deal" on his country's nuclear program.

While issues remain to be resolved, Araghchi said an understanding has been reached on "main principals" in the negotiations.

Rising tensions and the possibility of a U.S. military strike against Iran have supported petroleum prices in recent weeks.

Prices have also been under pressure from reports last week that OPEC and allied nations may resume in April a program of monthly production increases.

While analysts and many energy agencies have forecast that earlier OPEC+ increases will lead to a global oil supply surplus, the build in inventories hasn't yet been as large as had been expected.

The release of U.S. petroleum supply and demand data from the Energy Information Administration will be delayed to Thursday from Wednesday this week because of the U.S. Presidents Day holiday on Monday.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Reporting by Steven Cronin, scronin@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeffrey Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 17, 2026 11:50 ET (16:50 GMT)

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