This week’s opening rebound is largely driven by a weaker US Dollar and higher equity markets, said Dennis Kissler, senior vice president of trading at BOK Financial. “Saudi Arabia gave no signs of immediate production increases coming, which sums up to last week’s selloff probably being over exaggerated.”

Crude has slumped since mid-June as concerns about a potential recession ripped through commodity markets, eroding gains that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nonetheless, Biden remains eager to get the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to add supplies to bring prices down further and help quell inflation.

OPEC and its allies next meet on Aug. 3 after members agreed to revive the crude supplies that were halted during the coronavirus pandemic. Analysts at RBC see Saudi Arabia and a handful of other producers likely to making another modest supply hike.

Have a Great Day,

President Joe Biden said he expects further oil supply increases from Saudi Arabia to help tame fuel costs at home after a landmark meeting with the kingdom’s rulers.

Biden’s trip didn’t result in an immediate pledge for a production hike, but US officials said they were confident that Riyadh would lead the OPEC+ alliance to an agreement for a gradual boost.

“I’m doing all I can to increase the supply for the United States of America, which I expect to happen,” Biden told reporters. “The Saudis share that urgency. And based on our discussions today, I expect we’ll see further steps in the coming weeks.”

Biden’s meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, in the port city of Jeddah comes after high fuel prices compelled the president to backtrack on an earlier vow to isolate Riyadh over the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Gasoline remains near record levels of $5 a gallon in the US, spurring discontent as midterm elections approach.

His visit sets up the Aug. 3 meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, which will calibrate output for September and beyond, as the next significant date on the oil-market calendar. Still, with oil prices tumbling from recent highs as recession risks grip markets, the picture could still change in the run-up.

Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, said supply decisions would be based on ongoing assessments of the market. He also stressed that Saudi Arabia would continue to work with OPEC+, the alliance including Russia — whose oil revenues the U.S. is trying to squeeze because of its invasion of Ukraine.

“We assess demand and we work in consultations with other oil producers in OPEC and OPEC+ to make sure that we have adequate supplies,” the Saudi minister told a separate news conference. “We base that on fundamentals, not on speculations, not on hysteria, not on geopolitics.”

The US welcomed production hikes that had already been announced by the Saudis and other OPEC+ members for this month and next.

“Saudi Arabia has committed to support global oil market balancing for sustained economic growth,” the White House said in a statement. “These steps and further steps that we anticipate over the coming weeks have and will help stabilize markets considerably.”

But any further increases are expected to be modest as the Persian Gulf heavyweights choose to preserve their remaining spare capacity amid supply disruptions ranging from Libyan unrest to sanctions against Russia. The buffer of idle output has dwindled to “razor-thin” levels of just over 2 million barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency.

Under the terms of the existing OPEC+ agreement, Saudi Arabia’s production is due to reach almost 11 million barrels a day next month, a level it has only rarely maintained in its decades as a crude exporter. Any further increases would test the kingdom’s maximum sustainable capacity, which state-run giant Saudi Aramco puts at 12 million barrels a day.

The White House statement also announced a clean-energy partnership between the US and the kingdom, which will include Saudi investments to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy. The framework will focus on solar, hydrogen and nuclear, with a mix of public and private-sector involvement.

Have a Great Day,

Oil continued its decline as record US inflation and disappointing earnings from Wall Street intensified fears of a recession.

West Texas Intermediate settled below $96 a barrel on Thursday. Earlier, futures breached $91 a barrel, hitting the lowest level since late February when crude began its ascent into triple digits. Broader markets recovered from the day’s lows after Federal Reserve officials clamed traders expecting an even more aggressive pace of rate hikes after a hotter-than-expected monthly inflation report. Oil futures have been in decline since early June on escalating fears the US may be pushed into a recession.

Nonetheless, global oil supply remains strained, as can be seen in timespreads showing a wide premium for immediately available barrels. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the market is “screaming” tightness and that this week’s selloff has been driven by low liquidity and technical factors. “Oil has been the last major risk asset to start falling, as the supply was previously very tight,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index. “The supply is not plentiful yet, but concerns that demand is going to weaken is what is driving prices right now.”

President Joe Biden landed in the Middle East on Wednesday just as a report showed US inflation soared to a four-decade high last month, much of it driven by energy costs.

There are signs that high US gasoline prices are starting to take their toll on consumption. US gasoline demand fell to the lowest level for this time of year since 1996, even slipping below the same week in 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration. The four-week rolling average of gasoline demand was the second-lowest on a seasonal basis since 2000. Meanwhile, crude stockpiles rose by 3.25 million barrels.

Renewed Covid-19 outbreaks in China have also weighed on the outlook for oil demand. Shanghai’s flareup appears to be easing, but other regions are being locked down and facing restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. Nationwide, 292 cases were recorded on Wednesday.

Office: 479-846-2761

Cell: 479-790-5581

Tell Us How We’re Doing On Google Business

https://g.page/r/CUyL9wDolv04EAI/review

As always, thank you so much for being a part of the Fuel Manager Services, Inc. family, and we look forward to making this the best year yet!

Crude oil is are near a “clear inflection point” after a selloff pulled the U.S. oil benchmark back below $100 a barrel, a technical analyst said Wednesday, leaving prices on the cusp of a move that could have implications for Federal Reserve policy makers as investors grapple with another hotter-than-expected inflation reading.

“The Oil/Energy trade has been central to the post-pandemic events, most especially inflation. It would stand to reason the unraveling of the Energy uptrend would be equally central to a decline in growth and inflation and, by inference, rate policy,” said William Basa, president of Global Market Research, in a note.