AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 9/22/23

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.830945; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.156690; American Dollar to Euro = 1.224094; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.009138; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.050224.

What do toothpaste, perfume, soap and ink have in common? The surprising answer is turpentine. This versatile byproduct of the pulp- and paper-making process is used in a wide range of everyday products. Consider a typical day: You wake up and brush your teeth. Then you take a shower using your favorite soap. After you get dressed, you apply some makeup or a spritz of cologne or perfume. You might not have realized it, but before you left home this morning, you used a number of products that contain a special form of turpentine that Domtar makes. Your perfume’s floral fragrance and your toothpaste’s minty freshness originated as crude sulfate turpentine, a USDA-certified, all-natural and renewable byproduct of the pulp- and paper-making process. In fact, many of the scents and flavorings in products you encounter every day are derived from byproducts of the pulp- and paper-making process. Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures added 0.4 percent after settling at a two-week low on Wednesday. Overseas shipments from the U.S. jumped to a record last week as production rose, government data showed. In Russia, President Vladimir Putin said he’s open to prolonging a deal with OPEC to curb supplies, though a decision won’t be made until the current agreement nears expiry in March. Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz began a four-day visit to the nation on Wednesday. “U.S. production is almost at a record-high level, and exports are record-high,” said Michael Poulsen, an analyst at Global Risk Management Ltd. “As this U.S. production is a fundamental part of the oil market, such news weighs heavily.” Lower demand from U.S. Gulf Coast refiners that are still recovering from Hurricane Harvey in August has caused crude sellers to seek markets abroad, triggering shipments of 1.98 million barrels a day, the highest level in weekly government data compiled since 1993. The figure was about a third higher than the previous record, set the prior week. Click Read More below for additional detail.