Fueling Strategy: Please fill as needed tonight – Be Safe Today

NYMEX Crude $ 49.66 DN $.1400
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5494 DN $.0139
NYMEX Gasoline $1.6389 DN $.0037

NEWS
Oil prices fell Tuesday, but pared much of their earlier losses by the settlement as traders looked ahead to data due later this week that are expected to reveal a further decline in U.S. crude supplies. Prices, however, still managed to extend the recent drop that came as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries stopped short of taking more aggressive steps to cut production.

July West Texas Intermediate crude declined by 14 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $49.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. July Brent crude gave up 45 cents, or 0.9%, to $51.84 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. “As the day wore on, the…expectations for this week’s oil inventory started to creep in,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. “That brought back oil at the end of day.”

WTI oil had earlier dropped to lows near $49 a barrel, while Brent crude traded closer to $51 at its worst levels of the session. The American Petroleum Institute will issue its weekly U.S. petroleum-supply update late Wednesday—a day later than usual because of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday. The Energy Information Administration’s report will come out Thursday morning. Analysts at Price Futures Group forecast a decline of 3.5 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies for the week ended May 26. WTI prices fell 1.7% last week, logging their first weekly decline in three weeks.

In a report dated Monday, Goldman Sachs lowered its 2017 forecast for average WTI oil to $52.92 per barrel, down from $54.80 previously. It cut its view of average Brent prices this year to $55.39, down from $56.76.
Overall, the crude complex “continues to look relatively weak” after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries “failed to provide any significant support during last week’s meeting,” said Robbie Fraser, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric. “Ultimately, the decision to extend production cuts should prove supportive, but it was clearly a disappointment to some bullish speculators who had anticipated deeper production cuts,” he said. “Nonetheless, if OPEC can maintain their current compliance levels through the upcoming peak demand months, oil should see a sustained stretch of stock draws.” Still, compliance with the cuts “won’t come as easy as previous months…as summer typically translates to seasonal production peaks for most OPEC countries,” said Fraser.

Have a great day,

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