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

NYMEX Crude $ 45.89 DN $1.3700
NY Harbor ULSD $1.4491 DN $0.0475
NYMEX Gasoline $1.2514 DN $0.0766

NEWS
Oil futures settled at the lowest level in more than two weeks Monday as data showing China’s economic growth fell to its slowest pace since the financial crisis raised concerns about the outlook for energy demand.

Losses for oil also came on the heels of a nearly 6% drop in futures prices for gasoline, as oil-refinery maintenance draws to a close and the market faces seasonal demand weakness. November West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.37, or 2.9%, to settle at $45.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ahead of the contract’s expiration on Tuesday. Prices saw a loss of 4.8% last week and settled Monday at their lowest level since Oct. 2. December Brent crude fell $1.85, or 3.7%, to finish at $48.61 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.

China reported third-quarter growth of 6.9%, adding to concerns about a slowdown by the world’s second-biggest oil consumer. Other economic data released on Monday showed disappointing results in investment and industrial production. Chinese data are “contributing to the defensive nature of the market,” said Tim Evans, chief market strategist at Long Leaf Trading Group. “Soft industrial production and a multiyear low in fixed investments is contributing to the sour tone to start the week.” While China’s GDP growth of 6.9% slightly outpaced expectations, according to economists polled by The Wall Street Journal, it added to doubts that Beijing can meet its year-end growth target of about 7%. Worries about the health of China’s economy battered commodities prices over the summer, with oil prices falling to their lowest level since 2009. China consumes about 12% of the world’s oil, second only to the U.S.

Meanwhile, a technical meeting between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC nations Wednesday isn’t expected to bring any cuts to production to prop up prices, analysts said. The idea of an OPEC output cut “will remain just that, an idea, until Saudi Arabia expresses any interest in defending prices rather than market share,” said Tyler Richey, co-editor of The 7:00’s Report. “At the end of the day, what Saudi Arabia says goes” when it comes to OPEC. Members of OPEC have continued to pump crude at a high pace despite the global oversupply in a bid to defend—and gain—market share. Its collective output ceiling is set at 30 million barrels a day, but has consistently topped that. Losses for oil Monday came as gasoline futures took a nearly 6% hit. “Crude prices are being driven south by sharp corrections in gasoline prices, as seasonal demand plummets,” said Matthew Parry, senior oil analyst at the International Energy Agency.