AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 6/26/20

Futures lost as much as 1 percent in New York, after falling 2.4 percent in the previous two sessions. Gasoline supplies rose by 4.91 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That will be the biggest gain since January if replicated in government data Wednesday. Libya is gradually resuming output at its biggest oil field, people familiar with the matter said. Nationwide crude stockpiles fell by 4.08 million barrels last week, the API said Tuesday, according to people familiar with the data. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, climbed by 2.08 million barrels. An Energy Information Administration report Wednesday is forecast to show supplies slid by 500,000 barrels, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Oil is losing steam after rising more than 5 percent last month as Trump repeatedly raises the stakes against China, rattling markets. Along with other risky assets, oil took a blow on concern the escalating tension will threaten growth that drives energy demand amid record U.S. output. That could hinder the efforts of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies to curb a global glut and prop up prices. “The market is currently concerned for the escalating China-U.S. trade war tensions,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodities analyst at SEB AB. “And with good reason, since this will be bad for global growth and oil demand growth further down the road.” Click Read More below for additional information.

Futures fell 2.5 percent in New York. China’s oil refining dropped the most in three years in July, while crude output retreated from the highest this year. Libya’s biggest oil field, Sharara, cut output by more than 30 percent because of security threats, a person familiar with the matter said. Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened, eroding the lure of commodities as a store of value. "We’re seeing some strength in the dollar, and the preponderance of news seems to be favoring the bears right now," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group Inc. in Chicago, said by telephone. "If you look at the China data this morning, when it came to the China refinery runs being down in July, that’s adding to the perception of slowing demand, and it’s offsetting the concerns about Libyan oil production." Click Read More below for additional detail.