Fueling Strategy: Please fill as needed tonight, Wednesday AM wholesale prices will fall slightly (less than one penny) Please keep tanks full Wednesday due to Thursday AM wholesale prices will jump up 6 cents – Be Safe
NYMEX Crude $ 47.90 UP $1.7600
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5660 UP $0.0591
NYMEX Gasoline $1.4455 UP $0.0702
NEWS
Oil futures finished with solid gains Tuesday, pushing Brent futures back above $50 amid concerns over supply disruptions in Libya and Brazil as traders awaited weekly crude-oil inventory data.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December rose $1.76, or 3.8%, to end at $47.90 a barrel. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $1.75, or 3.6%, to settle at $50.54 a barrel.
Libya’s National Oil Co. said the country’s oil production will drop by around 70,000 barrels a day to less than 400,000 barrels a day after the export terminal of Zueitina was blocked by an armed militia, The Wall Street Journal reported. Analysts said prices also were pushed up by problems in Brazil, where the country’s largest public-sector union, which represents oil-platform workers, began a strike on Sunday. The day’s climb came after oil futures took a hit on Monday following data that indicated manufacturing activity in China contracted again last month. “What the data says is China is doing marginally better but the overall output is still shrinking, worsening fears that China’s demand for oil will slow further,” said Gao Jian, a commodity analyst at SCI International in Shandong, China.
Market participants will be taking cues from this week’s U.S. crude-production and stockpiles data. Pricing agency Platts estimates the U.S. commercial crude stock to have risen for the sixth consecutive week, adding 2.45 million barrels in the week ended October 30. It also expects the refinery utilization rate to edge up 0.2% to 87.8%, suggesting the seasonal maintenance period may be over. Industry group the American Petroleum Institute will release its estimates later Tuesday while the official figures from the U.S. Energy Department will be released Wednesday.