Fueling Strategy: Please keep tanks topped tonight, Wednesday AM wholesale prices will go UP again 4 cents – Be Safe Tonight!

NYMEX Crude $ 46.58 UP $.8400
NY Harbor ULSD $1.4613 UP $.0114
NYMEX Gasoline $1.4226 UP $.0219

NEWS
Oil futures finished higher Tuesday, with prices notching a fourth-straight session gain, finding support from weakness in the U.S. dollar as traders continued to weigh the likelihood of an output-freeze agreement by major producers next month. September West Texas Intermediate crude added 84 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $46.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices, which trade at their highest level in a month, had gained nearly 10% over the past three trading sessions. October Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange climbed by 88 cents, or 1.8%, to $49.23 a barrel. WTI and Brent both settled at their highest levels in more than a month.

The continued climb for oil “comes despite a tempering of some of the more bullish [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries]-related speculation,” said Robbie Fraser, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric, in a note. “Recent comments from members Nigeria and Iran have both painted a less than optimistic picture for any coordinated effort to boost prices,” he said. OPEC said last week that it will hold an informal meeting on the sidelines of an energy forum in Algeria late next month to discuss ways to stabilize the oil market. The world’s two largest crude-oil producers—Saudi Arabia and Russia—have indicated their support for such an output limit.

But on Tuesday, Iran said it hasn’t made any decision to join the meeting and doesn’t expect to reach output levels its country has previously said are required before Iran can take part in a production pact, according to The Wall Street Journal. A plan to freeze output last spring failed after Iran refused to join in. Several analysts have argued that a production cap at a time when producers are pumping at top speed would hardly take enough barrels off the market to make a material difference. Others have expressed skepticism that the 14-member bloc would be able to forge a consensus given the historical tension among some players. “It is encouraging that Saudi Arabia has flagged its intention, but how many times have we heard the same rhetoric?” said Aaron Lynch, a commodities analyst at optionsXpress.

Still, some analysts believe that as the bulging global glut is starting to dent big producers’ coffers, a pact is actually quite likely. “The fact that many oil producers are producing at full tilt makes it more likely they are more inclined to freeze in September because they have little spare capacity left to expand,” said Gao Jian, an energy analyst at the Shandong-based SCI International. For now, “a fairly significant drop in the dollar’s value relative to other currencies has offered extra support to oil prices,” said Fraser.

The ICE U.S. Dollar Index lost 0.9% after U.S. data showed inflation was flat in July, underscoring the Fed’s case for leaving interest rates on hold. Higher interest rates can boost the dollar and make oil, which is traded in the greenback, more expensive for overseas buyers.

For the short term, the market will be watching the weekly U.S. crude inventories data from the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday and the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday. A S&P Global Platts survey estimates U.S. crude supplies fell by 200,000 barrels last week, while gasoline stocks reduced by 1.8 million barrels.