Fueling Strategy: Please keep tank topped tonight – Friday AM wholesale prices will shoot up 2.5 cents – Be Safe Today

NYMEX Crude $ 48.59 DN $.9700
NY Harbor ULSD $1.6313 DN $.0220
NYMEX Gasoline $1.6028 DN $.0172

NEWS
Oil futures pulled back on Thursday, marking the lowest finish in more than two weeks, with U.S. prices failing to hold above $50 a barrel as a report from OPEC showed that crude production among the group’s members rose in July.

Natural-gas futures, meanwhile, finished at a three-week high after U.S. government data revealed a smaller-than-expected weekly climb in domestic supplies of the fuel. September West Texas Intermediate crude shed 97 cents, or 2%, to settle at $48.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since July 25, according to FactSet data. October Brent crude declined by 80 cents, or 1.5%, to $51.90 a barrel.

The $50 level “remains a huge psychological barrier for U.S. oil,” said Robbie Fraser, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric. “As crude stocks continue to draw down each week, it’s easy at first to justify a bullish trading path,” he said. “But as we start to hit price levels that we know are capable of boosting production, the market makes a quick turn from greed back to fear.” Prices for WTI climbed to as high as $50.22 before it retreated Thursday. They rose 0.8% Wednesday after data showed a sharp 6.5 million-barrel decline in last week’s U.S. oil inventories. “Yes, the inventory data was favorable [for prices], but the [WTI] oil price failed to break the resistance of $50, which was a clear confirmation that traders are not convinced that demand is strong enough to satisfy the supply,” Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets.

In a monthly report Thursday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries lifted its forecast for global oil demand growth this year by 100,000 barrels a day, saying it now expects growth of 1.37 million barrels a day in 2017. The cartel also said, however, that production from the group rose further in July, driven by higher production in Libya, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia. “A tug of war remains between stockpiles finally beginning to decline and concerns over compliance among members of the OPEC-led production cuts,” said Enrico Chiorando, a U.K.-based analyst at energy consultancy Love Energy. Libya and Nigeria are exempt from the pact to cut production, as both countries have been suffering from internal conflicts that have hit their oil output. However, with production ramping up there, traders fear OPEC’s efforts to balance the oil market will have been wasted. Aside from OPEC production, investors are also nervous about escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, which has weighed on a broad range of commodities except for those assets perceived as havens, such as gold.

Elsewhere on Nymex, prices for natural gas ended at their highest level in three weeks following data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Thursday that showed domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 28 billion cubic feet for the week ended Aug. 4.

Have a great day,

Loren R. Bailey, President
Fuel Manager Services Inc
“Serving the Trucking Industry Since 1992”