AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 5/3/24

Brent crude on Monday touched its highest level since 2014 as oil prices increased on rising tension between the US and Iran. The international oil price, which has benefited from a lift in US demand and Opec supply constraints this year, rose nearly 1 per cent to $75.53 in European trading after earlier hitting a session peak of $75.89, its highest level since November 2014. Click Read More below for additional information.

Oil is heading for the longest run of weekly gains since October 2016 as global supplies tighten and on signs the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will extend output curbs past the end of March. Saudi Arabia on Thursday advised its nationals to leave Lebanon, fueling fears of a confrontation with Iran in a country long known for being a battleground for proxy wars in the Middle East. “Geopolitical risks have taken center stage in the oil market again,” said Jens Naervig Pedersen, senior analyst at Danske Bank A/S in Copenhagen. “The rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran have raised concerns in the oil market of an imminent supply disruption.” Saudi Arabia said it plans to cut crude exports to all the regions it ships to next month. Shipments will fall by 120,000 barrels a day in December from November, a spokesman for the Energy Ministry said, without specifying what those levels would be. Bloomberg calculations from vessel-tracking data estimated flows in October at 6.989 million a day. Click Read More below for additional information.

Oil prices fell for a fourth session on Wednesday after the U.S. government reported an unexpected increase in crude and gasoline stockpiles, but an increase in refining runs and a drawdown in distillates helped prices bounce off session lows. Prices also remained under pressure from this week's International Energy Agency (IEA) outlook for slower growth in global crude demand. While the crude build of 1.9 million barrels reported by the Energy Information Administration was more than forecast, it was not as big as the increase of 6.5 million barrels reported on Tuesday by industry group the American Petroleum Institute. The EIA data encouraged buying at session lows. Click Read More below for additional information.