Fueling Strategy: Please fill as needed tonight, Friday AM wholesale prices will go up slightly – Be Safe Today!

NYMEX Crude $ 34.57 DN $.0900
NY Harbor ULSD $1.1202 UP $.0137
NYMEX Gasoline $1.2988 DN $.0119

NEWS
Oil futures fell Thursday for the first time in four sessions, with West Texas Intermediate crude failing to settle above $35 a barrel, a key level. Traders weighed the possibility that major producers may come to an agreement this month to stabilize crude output levels. They also took cues from mostly downbeat U.S. economic data and a weekly U.S. government report out Wednesday that showed both a larger-than-expected rise in crude supplies and a decline in total domestic production.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, April West Texas Intermediate crudefell 9 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $34.57 a barrel, after earlier tapping a high of $35.32. Futures gained Wednesday, which marked a third straight daily rise, to end at the highest level in roughly two months. A close above $35 for WTI would have opened the gates for a further climb, according to Jameel Ahmad, chief market analyst at FXTM.

On London’s ICE Futures exchange, Brent crude added 14 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $37.07 a barrel. “We’re going to continue to see choppy price action as a battle rages between the ongoing bearish backdrop of oversupply versus glimpses of rebalancing and hopes of [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries] coordination,” said Matt Smith, a commodity analyst at ClipperData.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Wednesday reported a 10.4 million-barrel increase in crude stockpiles, but also said that domestic output fell by 25,000 barrels to 9.077 million barrels a day. “The macro environment has been firm” and as long as it stays this way, prices will continue to rise “given the U.S. production numbers confirm what the rig-count data has been suggesting,” said Tim Evans, chief market strategist at Long Leaf Trading Group. Meanwhile, Venezuela has said that 15 countries will attend a meeting of oil producers this month to discuss a plan to freeze output, according to news reports. “Traders are willing to believe a meeting could take place this month, but there is a lot of healthy skepticism out there over whether anything may actually come out of it,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets, in a note.