Fueling Strategy: Please keep tanks full, tonight refuel before 23:00 CST, Friday wholesale prices will go UP 2 cents – Be Safe Today!
PLEASE USE THE FOLLOWING NUMBER FOR THE FUEL HELP DESK: 479-846-2761
NYMEX Crude $ 50.43 DN $1.1700
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5596 DN $0.0283
NYMEX Gasoline $1.4937 DN $0.0199
NEWS
Oil futures finished lower on Thursday, easing back after hitting a 15-month high a day earlier as the November West Texas Intermediate crude futures contracts expired at the session’s end. November WTI crude fell $1.17, or 2.3%, to settle at $50.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices had settled Wednesday at their highest level since mid-July 2015. December WTI crude which is now the front-month contract, settled at $50.63, down $1.19, or 2.3%. “Profit-taking saw oil prices fall on Thursday, following increases the previous day due to weaker-than-expected [U.S.] inventories and optimism over OPEC agreeing on a production curb,” said Chris Todd, a U.K.-based analyst at energy consultancy Love Energy. “However, the market remains confident, with many traders anticipating further price rises after an unexpected reduction in U.S. stocks and in anticipation of a deal at next month’s OPEC meeting,” he said.
WTI oil futures rallied Wednesday after Energy Information Administration data showed U.S. domestic crude stocks unexpectedly dropped by 5.2 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 14. The decrease was largely due to lower imports, analysts said. However, with total crude stocks at 468.7 million barrels, they’re still 5.4% higher than the same period last year and 31.5% above the five-year average.
Traders continue to watch developments tied to OPEC’s plan to cut member production by 200,000 to 700,000 barrels a day. The plan is expected to be discussed and possibly ratified in the Nov. 30 meeting. Many market watchers aren’t enthused by the deal, saying the group’s longstanding internal tensions will make it difficult for all members to be on board. Even if a deal is struck, it remains a question if the members would obey to the production quotas. OPEC has been concerned about growing production from non-OPEC oil producers, including Russia, which has offer mixed messages on whether it will cooperate with an output deal, and the U.S. “OPEC will be on notice for both the need to complete the proposed deal to rein in excess production and to aim for a price level that won’t give back too much market share over the intermediate term,” said Tim Evans, a Citi Futures analyst. Still, the World Bank said Thursday that OPEC preparations to limit output prompted it to raise its 2017 forecast for oil prices—an average of Brent, WTI And Dubai crudes—to $55 a barrel from a previous forecast of $53.