# Brent Down 5.75% On Week, Product Cracks Widen, Vol Eases 25 June 2026 · OILAV **Brent and WTI fell over 5% on the week while heating oil and gasoline gained, and implied crude volatility pulled back from recent highs.** ## Key levels - Brent: support 72.08, resistance 82.38 - WTI: support 68.9, resistance 78.96 ## Price Action & Technicals > Crude fell over 5% while products gained, widening the crack spread implied in the price data. Brent settled at **$75.26**, down **5.75%** over the five-session window, trading within a range of **$82.38** to **$72.08** and closing near the lower end of that band. WTI followed a similar path, closing at **$71.92** (-6.11%), inside a **$68.90-$78.96** range. Refined products moved in the opposite direction: heating oil rose **5.46%** to **$3.30**, and RBOB gasoline gained **1.08%** to **$3.03**. This divergence between weaker crude and firmer distillate/gasoline prices widened the implied crack spread over the period. The Crude Oil VIX (OVX) fell **8.89%** to **46.96**, down from a five-day high of **52.91**, indicating easing but still elevated volatility relative to its own recent range. ## Supply & Inventories > Refinery utilization near 96% coincides with product strength even as crude benchmarks declined. EIA data for the week ended 2026-06-19 shows crude stocks at **412.1M bbl**, with domestic production holding at **13.82M b/d** and imports at **5.57M b/d**. Refinery utilization stood at **96.1%**, a level consistent with strong throughput that aligns with the period's gains in heating oil and gasoline prices. The dataset does not include a prior-week stock figure, so the week-over-week build or draw cannot be quantified here. ## Positioning & Flows > Net spec longs of 100,295 contracts sat on the wrong side of a >5% weekly decline in both benchmarks. The CFTC report dated 2026-06-23 shows money manager longs at **207,881** contracts against shorts of **107,586**, leaving a net speculative position of **+100,295** — a long/short ratio of roughly 1.93:1. Total open interest stood at **2,533,875** contracts. This net long positioning was carried into a week where both Brent and WTI fell more than 5%, meaning spec longs entered the period exposed to the downside move shown in the price data. ## Macro & Cross-Asset > Dollar index remains elevated alongside the crude price decline, though a direct causal link cannot be established from this dataset. The US Dollar Index closed at **121.0559** on 2026-06-25, with the 10-year Treasury yield at **4.4%** and the Fed funds rate at **3.63%**. CPI stood at **332.568**. No five-day dollar index change is available in this dataset to directly correlate with the crude decline, though a firm dollar level alongside falling crude prices is consistent with typical inverse dollar-crude relationships. ## What to watch - Crude stocks at 412.1M bbl against 96.1% refinery utilization - Net spec long of 100,295 contracts exposed to further price weakness - OVX at 46.96, still above 45 despite an 8.89% five-day drop - Crack spread divergence: heating oil +5.46% vs Brent -5.75% - Gasoline holding near $3.03 despite crude's decline toward $72 ## Risks to the view - Net speculative long position of 100,295 contracts vulnerable to liquidation given the week's crude price decline - OVX remains above 45 even after an 8.89% pullback, signaling still-elevated volatility - Refinery utilization at 96.1% leaves limited capacity slack relative to current product demand implied by price gains ## Outlook Brent is testing support near the five-day low of $72.08, with WTI holding just above $68.90; a break of these levels would extend the current decline. The sizeable net spec long position (100,295 contracts) combined with still-elevated OVX readings suggests positioning risk skews toward further length reduction if crude fails to stabilize.