Fueling Strategy: Please fill as needed tonight – Be Safe!!

NYMEX Crude $ 46.26 UP $.7200
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5483 UP $.0284
NYMEX Gasoline $1.3853 UP $.0439

NEWS
Oil futures on Monday finished at their highest level in almost two weeks on expectations that China may take actions to stimulate its economy, which might help boost energy demand. But a continuing market-share and price war among oil producers may have capped price gains for the session. Saudi Arabia unexpectedly announced Sunday that it will slash its oil prices. November West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $46.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 72 cents, or 1.6%, after touching a high near $47 a barrel. Monday’s settlement price was the highest since Sept. 22, according to data from Fact Set.

November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $1.12, or 2.3%, to $49.25 a barrel—the highest settlement in over a week. “Oil is entering a more seasonally favourable period and it also appears that while China is struggling, it isn’t collapsing as had been feared a few weeks ago,” said Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at CMC Markets. “Oil has stabilized in recent weeks and has started to move up again within an emerging $40-$60 trading range with winter approaching,” he said. The World Bank said Monday that it expects China’s economy to grow 7% this year and gradually slow over the next two years. The news, however, raised expectations that Beijing will take steps to accelerate the country’s growth, which may help lift demand for energy. WTI prices had climbed 1.8% on Friday after the U.S. Commerce Department said U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 142,000 jobs in September, far below the 200,000 gain expected in the consensus estimate of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal. The tepid jobs report, said Daniel Ang, an oil analyst at Philip Futures Energy, means a rate hike by the end of the year is likely “off the table for now.”

Higher interest rates tend to buoy the U.S. dollar and pressure prices for dollar-denominated commodities, such as oil. Despite the recent gains for oil, market observers said prices were still facing strong headwind, especially after Saudi Arabia joined the price war on Sunday by making a steep price reduction while vowing to maintain a high output level. The move came as Iran, Iraq and other countries in the Middle East made deeper cuts in their official prices than Saudi Arabia last month, exacerbating the concerns that production will continue to outpace demand and prices will stay in the doldrums longer.

Prices for WTI and Brent have lost around 13% year-to-date.