Fueling Strategy: Please fill as needed today/tonight – Be Safe

NYMEX Crude $ 49.23 DN $.3900
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5431 DN $.0106
NYMEX Gasoline $1.6214 DN $.0231

NEWS
The U.S. oil benchmark fell for a sixth straight session Monday as nagging worries about rising domestic production outweighed optimism about prospects for an extended agreement on output cuts by OPEC and other major producers.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in June fell 39 cents, or 0.8%, to close at $49.23 a barrel, its lowest settlement in nearly four weeks. June Brent crude the global benchmark, fell 36 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $51.60 a barrel on London’s ICE futures exchange.

Oil initially popped higher in electronic trade Monday after a first-place finish in the first round of France’s presidential election by centrist Emmanuel Macron blunted fears that Paris could eventually move to leave the euro and the European Union. The strong showing by Macron, who still must face off against euroskeptic rival Marine Le Pen on May 7, sparked a global relief rally for assets perceived as risky, though oil seemed to get “less bang for the buck” than other markets, noted Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

“I think the mood or perception that we’re going to have this oil glut continue makes the market look weak,” Flynn said, referring to concerns over a continued rise in U.S. oil rig counts and shale production.

Flynn said he thinks that such fears are overblown and that U.S. production will prove unable to fill the gap left by decreased output by crude producers, including members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. For now, however, bears continue to call the shots, he said. Crude came under fresh pressure last week as U.S. production showed further growth and gasoline supplies surprisingly increased. According to Baker Hughes,the U.S. oil rig count increased by another 5 to 688 last week, implying that further production increases are to come. Crude oil closed the week having lost more than 6% of its value.

Amid rising U.S. oil production, investors are now wondering whether current production cuts by OPEC and Russia will ultimately be enough to sufficiently erode global supplies. “In the second half of the year we will see strong production growth from the U.S., making the job of OPEC more difficult,” said Giovanni Staunovo, analyst at UBS. OPEC next meets in May. Doubts are so pronounced that even with typical bullish factors like a weaker greenback and simmering geopolitical tensions, oil prices are only modestly higher on Monday, said Michael McCarthy of CMC Markets. Crude traders, however, continued to closely eye OPEC. To date, the cartel has reached a tentative agreement to sideline its production beyond June, but there is no consensus for how long and which countries are committed to such an extension.

Oil prices jumped around 20% last year after OPEC and other major producers agreed to cut output by around 1.8 million barrels a day for the first six months of 2017.