Fueling Strategy: Please fill as needed tonight – Be Safe!
NYMEX Crude $ 44.43 DN $1.2700
NY Harbor ULSD $1.4772 DN $0.0453
NYMEX Gasoline $1.3488 DN $0.0471
NEWS
Oil futures settled lower Monday, as signs of slowing global economic growth fed worries about the outlook for energy demand.
The International Monetary Fund is likely to cut its target for world gross domestic product growth for this year and next due to slowing growth in emerging-market countries, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said, according to French newspaper Les Echos.
“The IMF’s likely revision comes on the heels of another round of government reports from China showing industrial profits have declined,” said Daniel Holder, commodity analyst at Schneider Electric. “None of this is rosy for crude demand.” The IMF said Monday that with a weak outlook for commodity prices, particularly for energy and metals, growth in commodity-exporting economies could slow further over the next few years. Slight crude production declines are starting to appear in the U.S., Russia, Norway and Mexico, but “these slowdowns are not nearly enough to balance the supply glut,” Holder said in a note. “As the market realizes this, prices fall further.”
For the week ahead, oil prices are likely to continue moving sideways, with WTI and Brent crude expected to remain supported at $44.28 and $47.63 a barrel, respectively, analyst Daniel Ang at Phillip Futures said. He said the key macroeconomic data to watch this week is the U.S. jobs report. If non-farm payrolls data turn out better than expected, it should send WTI and Brent to trade at the lower end of the price range, Ang said. Oil has also pressured by recent underlying strength in the U.S. dollar after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen argued the case for raising short-term interest rates later this year.
On the supply side, U.S. oil data set for th is week will be watched closely for signs of any pullback in response to low oil prices. Friday’s U.S. rig-count data from Baker Hughes showed the number of oil rigs fell for a fourth straight week.