AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 12/02/22

Futures dropped 1.3 percent in New York after rising 0.3 percent on Tuesday. Motor-fuel inventories climbed by 9.2 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That would be the biggest gain since January 2016 if replicated in government data due later on Wednesday. Nationwide crude stockpiles declined, according to the API data. “This bears all the hallmarks of a year-end lull in U.S. fuel demand, which in turn should help safeguard the current bout of range-bound trading,” said Stephen Brennock, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates Ltd. in London. Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures were little changed in New York after falling 0.6 percent on Wednesday. Prince Mohammed said in an interview with Bloomberg News in Riyadh that "of course" he wanted to extend OPEC’s production cuts in 2018, making it all but certain the group and its allies will roll over the curbs at a meeting next month. Oil is holding gains above $50 a barrel as speculation mounts that supply curbs by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia will be prolonged when they meet in Vienna on Nov. 30. In Iraq, the state oil company is working with a Kurdish firm to resume pumping at two disputed fields after government troops recaptured them from Kurdish forces. Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures climbed 1.4 percent in New York, paring this week’s loss to 1.5 percent. China’s crude oil imports rebounded from a one-year low to near a record amid signs the nation’s commercial stockpiles shrank by the most in almost eight years. U.S. crude output increased to a record last week, while motor fuel inventories rose more than double analysts’ forecasts, government data showed Wednesday. U.S. crude production expanded for a seventh week to 9.7 million barrels a day, the highest level in weekly data compiled by the Energy Information Administration since 1983. Gasoline inventories rose by 6.78 million barrels last week, the biggest gain since January. Click Read More below for additional information.