Fueling Strategy: Please partial fill tonight, Saturday AM wholesale prices will drop another 2.5 cents – Be Safe Tonight!

FYI – I will be out of the office August 2 through August 7 next week BUT I will be monitoring my emails – If needed, Feel free to call me at 479-790-5581 – Thank you, Loren

NYMEX Crude $ 41.60 UP $.6000
NY Harbor ULSD $1.2760 UP $.0060
NYMEX Gasoline $1.3210 UP $.0148

NEWS
Oil futures climbed Friday, finding some support from weakness in the U.S. dollar, but West Texas Intermediate crude still logged a loss of about 14% for the month, the largest monthly percentage decline in a year, on lingering concerns about crude oversupply and a deluge of refined products.

Crude for September delivery tacked on 46 cents, or 1.1%, to $41.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Based on the most-active contracts, prices ended down 5.9% for the week, and saw a monthly loss of 13.9%, the largest monthly loss since July 2015. Prices have posted declines in three out of the seven months this year so far. The U.S. oil benchmark is now down nearly 19% from its recent high of $51.23 in June. A bear market is defined by a downturn of 20% or more from the recent highs. September Brent crude gave up 24 cents, or 0.6%, to $42.46 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. The contract expired at the settlement and October Brent which added 30 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $43.53, became the front month. Based on the most-active contracts, Brent lost more than 12% for the month.

Friday’s action came as fears of a persistent oversupply in the oil markets have been rekindled by a gasoline glut world-wide, as well as by early signs of increasing production in the U.S. and among members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. “Builds to [U.S.] gasoline stocks and even oil inventories in recent weeks have put a dampener on the oil rally that saw Brent and WTI above the $50/bbl mark in early June,” said Joseph George, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric, in a note. “Factors that supported prices earlier this year including the Canadian wildfires, Nigerian disruptions and strikes in Kuwait have largely vanished from the market’s view.”

On Friday, data from industry group Baker Hughes showed a fifth straight weekly increase in the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil. They rose by 3 to 374 rigs. Traders and analysts monitor the trend of the U.S. oil-rig count to gauge the bottom prices for oil drillers. “The current supply/demand structure for oil warrants a price bandwidth of $50 to $60,” said Nico Pantelis, head of research at Secular Investor. “But when a price doubles in a quarter, it’s normal to have a setback in the following months—that’s what we got this month.” WTI prices fell to lows near $26 in February, but touched highs above $51 in June. “We think most of the correction is over now, and expect to rise of oil to continue in the weeks and months ahead towards to $50-to-$60 bandwidth,” said Pantelis.

Elsewhere in the energy spectrum, gasoline for August delivery rose 1.5 cents, or 1.1%, to $1.321 a gallon, leaving the contract down 12% for the month. August heating oil rose just over half a cent to $1.276 a gallon—more than 14% lower for the month. The August contracts expired at the day’s settlement.