Fueling Strategy: Please plan for Friday AM’s 3.5 cent drop in wholesale prices so partial fill only tonight – Be Safe Today

NYMEX Crude $ 48.36 UP $.0400
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5017 DN $.0162
NYMEX Gasoline $1.6014 UP $.0049

NEWS
Oil prices gave up nearly all of their earlier gains Thursday on Nymex to finish only modestly higher for the session, while Brent crude prices ended lower, suffering back-to-back losses.

West Texas Intermediate crude prices had tapped highs above $49 after the Energy Information Administration reported an eighth-straight week drop in U.S. crude inventories, but pulled back near the end of the trading session. The supply report was bullish, but the announcement about the Trump administration’s likely decision to opt out of the Paris accord on climate change “is causing profit-taking,” said Phil Flynn at Price Futures Group. “While most believe that the president will lay the ground work for pulling out, the time frame of when it may happen remains murky, and therefore leading to profit-taking.”

Meanwhile, natural-gas futures tapped their lowest levels since mid-March after weekly data on U.S. inventories of the commodity came in higher than expected.

July West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 4 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $48.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading at highs above $49. August Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe lost 13 cents, or 0.3%, to end at $50.63—also retreating from earlier highs above $51.

Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, say that oil’s retreat from session highs may indeed be due to “profit-taking ahead of the climate announcements.” However, if the U.S. walks away from the climate change pact, that would likely be “bullish for fossil fuels and stocks, while staying with Paris could be seen as neutral to bearish for oil and stocks,” he said. Prices had found support early Thursday, after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that domestic crude supplies fell by 6.4 million barrels for the week ended May 26.

The American Petroleum Institute reported late Wednesday that supplies fell 8.7 million barrels last week, while analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expected the government to post a fall of 3.2 million. “Oil and gasoline inventories both declined, reflecting higher demand with driving season ramping up and likely continued strong exports,” said Brian Youngberg, senior energy analyst at Edward Jones. Gasoline stockpiles fell by 2.9 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles were up 400,000 barrels last week, according to the EIA.

Have a great day,

Loren R. Bailey, Founder & Owner
FUEL MANAGER SERVICES INC
“Serving the Trucking Industry Since 1992”