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Market Close: May 13 Down

Fueling Strategy:Please fuel as needed today/tonight, Be Safe Today
NYMEX Crude    $ 61.04 DN $.6200
NYMEX ULSD     $2.0384 DN $.0120
NYMEX Gas       $1.9637 DN $.0254
NEWS

Oil futures fell on Monday with Wall Street, as worries about the Sino-U.S. trade talks spooked investors who had sent oil higher in early trade on concerns that tanker attacks in the Middle East could disrupt supplies.

Brent Crude futures were down 42 cents at $70.20 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled down 1%, or 62 cents, at $61.04. Oil was pressured by a slump in stocks and other risk assets as investors moved into safe havens like Treasury bonds due to the intensifying U.S.-China trade war.

China defied a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump and said it would impose higher tariffs on a range of U.S. goods including frozen vegetables and liquefied natural gas. The move was widely expected after Washington last week raised tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports. Investors fear the trade war between the world’s two largest economies could escalate further and derail the global economy.

Earlier, oil prices had risen more than $1 a barrel after Saudi Arabia said two Saudi oil tankers were among vessels attacked off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. It was unclear how the attacks occurred. “This attack raises the stakes for oil and will add more volatility,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago, in a note. On Sunday, the UAE said four commercial vessels were attacked near Fujairah, one of the world’s largest bunkering hubs. The port lies near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil export waterway. Iran’s foreign ministry described the incidents as “worrisome and dreadful” and called for an investigation. Saudi Arabia is the largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the UAE is third.

The U.S. Maritime Administration said in an advisory on Sunday that the incidents off Fujairah, one of seven emirates in the UAE, had not been confirmed and urged caution. Volumes were strong in early U.S. trading, with more than 710,000 U.S. crude futures contracts changing hands. Oil prices have risen more than 30 percent this year, supported by supply concerns as the United States imposed sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

Washington reimposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers. Iran insists on exporting at least 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, triple May’s expected levels under U.S. sanctions, as a condition for staying in an international nuclear deal, sources with knowledge of Iran-EU talks said.

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.