Crude futures were little changed Thursday morning in US trading, stabilizing after Wednesday's rally lifted front-month contracts for NYMEX crude and ICE Brent to highs last seen in November 2014.
At 1444 GMT, NYMEX June crude was 4 cents higher at $71.18/b while ICE July Brent was up 1 cent to $77.22/b.
Crude futures reached fresh multi-year highs overnight before pulling back, as the implications of the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear agreement continued to reverberate across the oil market.
Military attacks between Israeli and Iranian forces in Syria were also keeping oil traders on edge, wary of any escalation.
"While there is no direct threat to any major supply infrastructure, the indirect threat of violence in the region often seems to be a reason to get oil prices stirred up," TAC Energy said in a note.
The NYMEX RBOB crack spread against WTI was 44 cents higher at $20.33/b. The RBOB crack was above $21/b in late April, but then fell to around $19/b this month, lagging behind the rest of the complex.
"RBOB gasoline finally joined the rest of the complex overnight by breaking above the highest trade from the Hurricane Harvey spike last fall," TAC Energy said in a note.
"For perspective, gasoline prices are trading higher now than they were when more than 20% of the country's refining capacity was knocked offline, and many cities saw cars lining up for blocks to get fuel," the note said.
US gasoline stocks fell 2.174 million barrels to 235.804 million barrels, 3.7% higher than the five-year average, Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday.
Refined product futures were mixed Thursday. NYMEX June ULSD was down 64 points at $2.2116/gal. NYMEX June RBOB was 1.11 cents higher at $2.1784/gal.
