Fueling Strategy: Please partial fill only tonight, Friday AM wholesale prices will drop 3.5 cents – Be Safe Today

NYMEX Crude $ 45.52 UP $.3900
NY Harbor ULSD $1.4819 UP $.0034
NYMEX Gasoline $1.5287 UP $.0263

NEWS
Oil prices finished modestly higher on Thursday, a day after their worst loss in a month, as U.S. government data revealed that domestic supplies of crude registered their largest fall in five weeks.

The Energy Information Administration data, however, also showed a rise in total U.S. crude production, on the heels of a fall the previous week—prompting oil prices to pare much of the day’s earlier gains and to settle off the session’s best levels. “Bottom line, the trend of rising U.S. oil output remains the single biggest headwind for the energy market,” said Tyler Richey, co-editor of the Sevens Report.

August West Texas Intermediate crude tacked on 39 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $45.52 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, well below the session’s high of $46.53. On Wednesday, the contract settled $1.94, or 4.1%, lower, posting its first loss in nine sessions and its biggest dollar and percentage drop since June 7.

In London, September Brent oil rose 32 cents, or 0.7%, to $48.11 a barrel after posting a decline of 3.7% Wednesday.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration report released Thursday showed that domestic crude supplies dropped by 6.3 million barrels for the week ended June 30. Supply data were released a day late because of Tuesday’s Independence Day holiday.
The decrease—the largest since the 6.4 million-barrel drop reported by the EIA for the week ended May 26—topped forecasts for a decline of 1.6 million barrels by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts, and also came in above the fall of 5.8 barrels reported by the American Petroleum Institute late Wednesday. Gasoline stockpiles also fell by 3.7 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles decreased by 1.9 million barrels last week, according to the EIA. The S&P Global Platts survey forecast a fall of 1 million barrels for gasoline, but expected a rise of 500,000 barrels for distillates, including heating oil.

On Nymex Thursday, gasoline for August climbed by 2.6 cents, or 1.8%, to $1.529 a gallon, while August heating oil added less than half a cent, or 0.2%, to $1.482 a gallon.

Despite the across-the-board petroleum supply declines, U.S. crude production edged up by 88,000 barrels a day to 9.338 million barrels a day, EIA data showed. Rising U.S. oil production in the wake of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries accord has been a major concern in the market and has kept a lid on prices in recent months. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a report on Thursday that if the OPEC cuts aren’t enough to balance the market, U.S. shale production will need to slow down. The weekly Baker Hughes rig count last Friday showed a decline in active oil rigs for the first time in 24 weeks. The next report is due Friday.

Meanwhile, Colorado State University raised its forecast for the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season on Wednesday. It now expects above-average activity. And a tropical depression formed in the Atlantic Thursday. “The more active Atlantic hurricane season is primarily an issue for oil production in the Gulf, and for medium-range tanker movements,” said Richard Hastings, macro strategist at Seaport Global Securities.

Have a great day,

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