Fueling Strategy: Please keep tanks topped today/tonight, Saturday AM wholesale prices will jump UP 3 cents then Sunday look for a jump of 10 cents, Be Safe Today!

NYMEX Crude $ 32.19 UP $2.6600
NY Harbor ULSD $ .9957 UP $0.0982
NYMEX Gasoline $1.0838 UP $0.0526

NEWS
Oil futures jumped 9% on Friday to settle at their highest level in two weeks, rebounding from oversold conditions as traders bet that major central banks will announce fresh stimulus measures that may improve sentiment for the beleaguered commodity.

“Today’s gains by oil are truly spectacular, and the retaking of $30 is a positive,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets. March West Texas Intermediate crude added $2.66, or 9%, to settle at $32.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the biggest one-day percentage gain since Aug. 27 and highest settlement since Jan. 8, according to FactSet data. For the week, WTI prices gained 9.4% based on last Friday’s closing level for the February contract, which expired Wednesday. The March contract itself was up 5.9% from its settlement a week ago. Brent crude the global oil benchmark, rose $2.93, or 10%, to $32.18 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange, set for a weekly gain of nearly 9%.

It was a “mad scramble” Friday to “get back on the bullish bandwagon,” said Cieszynski. But the “huge pop feels more like a bear-market rally on short covering than a proper base forming. There hasn’t been any change, the price war continues and is likely to continue for a long time meaning that we could still retest or break the recent lows eventually,” he said. Other analysts also voiced doubts that the price strength will last. “There is really no fundamental change that can justify this two-day surge in prices,” Robbie Fraser, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric, told MarketWatch. “More than anything, I think we’re seeing a short-covering rally and the impact of unusually high volatility throughout global markets this year.” However, “until we see meaningful production cuts from key producers, particularly the U.S., I’m not going to feel confident that oil prices have found their bottom,” he said.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hinted Thursday at more easing measures amid renewed pressure on inflation in European economies from falling oil prices. Traders were also speculating that Japan’s central bank might increase its asset-purchasing program at its end-of-January meeting. Global bourses bounced on the stimulus talk.

But the gains for crude have come despite a hefty weekly increase in U.S. oil stockpiles. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Thursday that domestic stockpiles rose by around 4 million barrels last week.

Meanwhile, weekly data from Baker Hughes showed that the number of active U.S. oil-drilling rigs edged down by 5 to 510 as of Friday. They fell by just 1 rig the prior week. Several oil producers like Venezuela and Nigeria have been urging the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to take some price-supportive measures. The request has largely been ignored by the cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, which has repeatedly said a cut in production would only be considered if non-OPEC producers are also willing to trim their output.