Fueling Strategy: Please keep tanks topped tonight, Wholesale prices are down 8 cents today, Saturday wholesale prices will go back UP 2.5 cents – Be Safe Today!!

NYMEX Crude $ 45.95 UP $.2700
NY Harbor ULSD $1.3974 DN $.0090
NYMEX Gasoline $1.4220 UP $.0080

NEWS
Oil futures settled higher Friday, notching a weekly gain of more than 1%, as better-than-expected economic data from China and the U.S. helped lift prospects for energy demand. There was a limit to oil’s gains, however, as traders also bet that the tragedy in Nice, France, might weigh on demand there. They also remained concerned about signs of a uptick in U.S. crude output as the number of active domestic drilling rigs climbed in the latest week.

August West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 27 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $45.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with futures prices gaining 1.2% for the week. September Brent crude on the ICE Futures exchange in London added 24 cents, or 0.5%, to $47.61 a barrel—roughly 1.8% higher for the week. “France will go into lockdown mode as events surrounding the Bastille day holiday will be canceled, reducing travel and demand for oil,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group.

But data from China, the world’s largest energy consumer, could ease concerns that Chinese demand is faltering, he said. “Talk about China’s demand destruction has been wildly overplayed and rumors that they are close to finishing filling their reserves just are not true,” said Flynn. “Of course, with global economic turmoil, demand for oil may change but so far, the stimulus fueled demand momentum in China seems to be growing.” On Friday, data showed that China’s second-quarter gross domestic product rose 6.7% year-over-year, compared with the market’s expectation of a 6.6% increase. China’s June industrial output rose 6.2% on-year, beating the market’s estimate of an 5.9% on-year expansion. Those figures follow data released Thursday that showed China’s crude imports slipped 5% in June to 30.62 million tons, or 7.5 million barrels a day, from a month earlier.

However, some analysts said that as China’s domestic crude production continues to fall due to aging oil fields and budget cuts, the country’s thirst for crude is likely to hold up, at least in the coming months. “China’s own crude production is significantly less than what the country needs so the only way is through imports,” said Gao Jian, an energy analyst at the Shandong-based SCI International. Although crude imports may abate in the second half of the year due to port congestions and refiners running out of import quotas, Jian said, overall demand should still be healthy.

In the U.S. Friday, some reports showed a pick up in the economy, bolstering the outlook for energy demand. Retail sales climbed by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% and June industrial production grew at the fastest monthly rate in 11 months. Weekly reports revealed a fall in U.S. crude inventories, but also an increase in domestic output. Oil-rig counts have climbed now climbed in six out of the last seven weeks, according to the latest data from Baker Hughes The active U.S. oil-rig count rose 6 to 357 as of Friday. Looking ahead to next week, Richard Hastings, macro strategist at Seaport Global Securities, said he would not be surprised to see some weakness in oil prices. “Fundamentals, led by huge volumes of petroleum products and floating storage, are unchanged and will continue to weigh upon crude-oil prices in the near term,” he said.