Fueling Strategy: Please top all tanks topped tonight, Wednesday AM wholesale prices will jump up over 2 cents – Be Safe!

NYMEX Crude $ 45.83 DN $.8500
NY Harbor ULSD $1.5320 UP $0.0180
NYMEX Gasoline $1.4164 UP $0.0133

NEWS
Oil futures settled lower on Tuesday, as a slumping U.S. stock market fed concerns that the outlook for energy demand will continue to soften. Prices, however, pared some of their losses by the settlement as petroleum-products futures took a last minute turn higher following a report that Colonial Pipeline Co. has shutdown petroleum-product pipelines, according to Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. The moves come ahead of weekly data that are expected to show a second straight weekly decline in U.S. crude supplies and a day after oil prices posted strong gains.

The October contract for West Texas Intermediate crude settled at $45.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 85 cents, or 1.8%, on its expiration day. November crude which is now the front-month contract, fell 60 cents, or 1.3%, to $46.36 a barrel. Colonial Pipeline has shut down several multi-product pipelines in the Centreville, Fairfax County, Virginia area, as local authorities investigate a strong odor of gasoline, according to a report from the FairFax County Times.

Meanwhile, November Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange turned a bit higher, up 16 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $49.08 a barrel. “Even as oil frets about the production destruction in the U.S. energy space, worries about growth still hamper oil’s price recovery,” said Flynn. Last week’s decision by the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates unchanged rattled investor confidence over the state of the U.S. economy and, in turn, the outlook for energy demand. U.S. equities, meanwhile, traded sharply lower Tuesday, following losses in Europe.But U.S. oil prices surged 4.5% on Monday amid signs that low prices are starting to affect drilling activity and curb the pace of oil production in the U.S.

This week’s inventory numbers will be closely watched for more signs of supply adjustments. Analysts polled by Platts forecast a weekly decline of 700,000 barrels in crude supplies. Gasoline stockpiles are seen up by 450,0000 barrels and distillate inventories likely climbed by 1.25 million barrels, the survey showed. The oil market is also “seriously concerned about an economic slowdown in China, which is currently dragging key commodities like crude oil and base metals down,” said Taki Tsaklanos, head of research at Secular Investor. Tsaklanos said resistance for WTI oil prices is at $51.92, which is its 200-day moving average, while key support is likely to kick in at the recent lows of $38 a barrel.