Fuels Market Watch 24

FUEL MARKETS TODAY – Market Overview

Crude oil prices today opened with gains for the eighth consecutive day, though the increase this morning amounted to only a dime, and prices are easing today. Yesterday, crude oil had its second finish above the $52/b mark, which hitherto had not been the norm since before December 13th. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude forward prices opened at $52.28/b today, a slight increase of $0.10 (0.19%) from yesterday’s opening price of $52.18/b. Gasoline forward prices opened with a small loss. Diesel forward prices opened with continued gains. All prices are trending down this morning.

Although the upward momentum in oil prices is reversing today, the oil complex appears ready to end the week significantly in the black, for the second week in a row. After prices collapsed to multi-year lows around the Christmas holiday, oil prices have staged a sustained comeback. As of the time of this writing, WTI crude prices are up by $3.09 (6.3%) for the week. Gasoline prices are up by 6.18 cents (4.6%) for the week. Diesel prices are up by 10.83 cents (6.1%) for the week. Some profit-taking is expected today, but it would take an unexpectedly large sell-off to erase all of the week’s gains.

The U.S. stock market is pointing down this morning, after five sessions of growth. The strong week was fueled mainly by positive, steady statements from the Fed combined with a three-day meeting of U.S. and Chinese officials on the trade war. The blush of optimism concerning the trade war has faded slightly, since there have been no details about actual agreements moving into the next round of talks. Moreover, the U.S. government is spending time and energy on the issue of President Trump’s campaign promise to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. The federal government shutdown is now in its 20^th day. This shutdown will likely enter the record books as the longest in history, outlasting the 21-day shutdown in December 1995 that finally ended with a seven-year budget deal. An estimated 800,000 federal workers will not receive their paychecks today.