Fueling Strategy: Please tonight before 23:00 CST make sure all tanks are completely topped, Saturday AM wholesale prices UP 2.5 cents – Be Safe Today!

NYMEX Crude $ 36.79 DN $1.5500
NY Harbor ULSD $1.1317 DN $0.0538
NYMEX Gasoline $1.4053 DN $0.0451

NEWS
Oil futures ended sharply lower on Friday, taking their weekly loss to nearly 7%, after comments from a Saudi Arabian prince cast doubt on whether the major crude producer would participate in any plan to stabilize global output. Upbeat U.S. and China data that pointed to the likelihood of stronger demand for oil and a report showing that the U.S. oil drilling-rig count fell in the latest week failed to provide much support for prices.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude for May the U.S. benchmark, settled at $36.79 a barrel, down $1.55 or 4%. Futures, which settled at their lowest level since March 15, lost 6.8% for the week, according to FactSet. June Brent crude the global benchmark, fell $1.66, or 4.1%, to $38.67 a barrel on London’s ICE exchange, with the contract down nearly 6% for the week.

Saudi Arabia will agree to freeze production only if Iran and other major producers agree to do the same, Mohammad bin Salman, the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia, said during an interview with Bloomberg. The news sent oil prices sharply lower because Iran has been adamant that it will continue to raise output until exports reach pre-sanction levels. The Saudis had appeared late last month to soften their tone on a potential producer agreement at a summit in Doha, Qatar on April 17 to cap output without Iran.

“In essence, Salman…is signaling to the world that if Iran refuses to cooperate with the coalition planning to freeze production (including non-OPEC Russia), then [the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’s] largest producer reserves the right to increase production further,” said Daniel Holder, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric. “The Doha meeting has become even more interesting now because the Saudis [no longer have any] obligations,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade. “The bigger question is what the other OPEC members will do on the back of this?”

Following the Saudi comments Friday, oil prices failed to get a boost from news that the U.S. economy created 215,000 new jobs in March and data showing China’sofficial manufacturing purchasing managers index increased to 50.2 in March from 49.0 in February. Looking ahead, with economic data light next week, attention will be focused on Federal Reserve speeches and further OPEC developments, said Rob Haworth, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “OPEC is unlikely to appear more harmonious prior to their meeting in a couple of weeks.”

Meanwhile, data from Baker Hughes showed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for crude fell by 10 to 362 as of Friday. That was the second weekly decline in a row. The total U.S. rig count fell 14 to 450, which marked another record low.