Fueling Strategy: Please fill as needed today, Saturday AM wholesale prices will go down slightly – Be Safe Today

NYMEX Crude $ 49.62 DN $1.0900
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5533 DN $0.0256
NYMEX Gasoline $1.6445 DN $0.0260

NEWS
Oil futures fell on Friday, with the U.S. benchmark ending below $50 a barrel and notching a weekly loss of roughly 7%. The latest weekly rise in active U.S. oil rigs offered another sign of further growth in U.S. crude production, casting doubts that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree to extend its product-cut deal into the second half of the year.
June West Texas Intermediate crude fell by $1.09, or 2.2%, to settle at $49.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was its lowest since March 29, according to FactSet data. June, which saw its first full day of trading as a front-month contract Friday posted a weekly loss of 7.4%. Based on the most-active contracts, however, prices lost 6.7%. Either way, it was the first weekly loss since the week ended March 24.

Declines in WTI accelerated in late morning trading as U.S. equities fell “on France election uncertainty and oil, being in a weak technical position, followed along,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. Prices then held on to their losses after Baker Hughes reported another weekly rise in the U.S. oil-rig count. June Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange lost $1.03, or 1.9%, to $51.96 a barrel—ending 7% lower for the week. Signs of a possible extension, which would help to offset output increases in the U.S., have provided some support for oil prices in recent weeks. Saudi Arabia Energy Minister Kalid al-Falih said Thursday that a handful of cartel members have reached a tentative agreement to cut more supplies.

Oil prices ticked higher initially after the comments Thursday from Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, but quickly lost steam as analysts said the remark only stirred up more uncertainty. On Friday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Russia, which isn’t part of OPEC, would discuss the possible extension of the output deal with OPEC on May 24, according to Reuters. That would come a day before OPEC’s member meeting in Vienna. But “until the trend, and specifically the pace of rising U.S. production, slows or reverses, it will be very difficult for oil prices to sustain any material gains in the medium term,” said Tyler Richey, co-editor of the Sevens Report. Data from Baker Hughes Friday afternoon showed that U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by 5 to 688 this week. That marked a 14th weekly climb in a row.

Have a great day,

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