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Market Close: Feb 25 Down

Fueling Strategy: Please partial fill ONLY today/tonight due to Wednesday prices will fall 7.5 cents then another 4.5 cents Thursday – Be Safe
NYMEX Crude    $ 49.90 DN $1.5300
NYMEX ULSD     $1.5685 DN $0.0447
NYMEX Gas       $1.5324 DN $0.0767
NEWS
Oil fell below $55 a barrel on Tuesday, dropping for a third day, as concerns about the spread of the coronavirus and its impact on oil demand outweighed OPEC output cuts and Libyan supply losses. Crude fell almost 4% on Monday, with other commodities also reporting losses while U.S. and European equities suffered their steepest declines since mid-2016 on concern the coronavirus outbreak could turn into a pandemic. Brent Crude fell $1.48 to trade at $54.86 per barrel. WTI Crude slipped $1.53 to settle at $49.90 per barrel, its first settle under the key $50 level since Feb. 11. “Demand concerns are wiping out all of the gains we have made over the last few weeks,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York. “This is not a situation that is going to suddenly get better.”

South Korea aims to test more than 200,000 members of a church at the centre of a surge in coronavirus cases. The virus is also spreading in Europe and the Middle East. Concern about the demand impact from the virus has pushed Brent down by almost $10 a barrel this year despite the shutdown of most of Libya’s output and a supply pact between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies.

Prices received further support as lawmakers based in areas of eastern Libya on Monday said that they would not participate for now in peace talks. However, oil could come under more pressure from the latest U.S. supply reports. Crude inventories are expected to rise for a fifth week running. The first of this week’s two supply reports, from the American Petroleum Institute (API), is due at 2130 GMT. Potential support for prices could also come from OPEC and allies including Russia, which are considering whether to curb output further. However, scepticism is growing about the chance of further action. “Doubts are emerging about the willingness of OPEC+ to extend and expand the necessary production cuts,” said Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg. The producers are due to meet in Vienna over March 5-6 to decide policy. Saudi Arabia’s energy minister on Tuesday said OPEC+ should not be complacent about the coronavirus. But Russia, key to any deal, has yet to announce its position on further curbs.

Have a Great Day,
Loren R Bailey, President
Fuel Manager Services Inc.
Office: 479-846-2761
Cell: 479-790-5581
Categories: Fuel News
loren: Fuel Manager Services Inc. "Serving the trucking industry since 1992" I've been in and around the trucking industry for 45-years beginning in owner operator operations at Willis Shaw Express. I bought a small trucking company that I ran for 6-years then sold and went to work for J.B. Hunt Transport in 1982. After 10-years with Hunt, I started Fuel Manager Services, Inc., we are in our 29th year of serving the American trucking companies. Our simple goal was and is to bridge the gap between the trucking companies and the fuel suppliers.