AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report for Friday, 1/3/25

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.764196; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.158084; American Dollar to Euro = 1.232922; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.009467; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.053323.

Futures in New York were little changed, after rising 3 percent the previous two sessions. Libya’s crude loadings from the Mellitah terminal will be “modified” after protests impeded output at the El-Feel field. Cuts by OPEC and its allies may be phased out in 2019 in a way that won’t disturb the market, Saudi oil minister Khalid Al-Falih said. Still, U.S. supply remains a threat, with the nation’s rig count rising for a fifth week to the highest since April 2015. Oil has risen more than 5 percent this year, following a second annual gain, as a drain in U.S. stockpiles and growing demand reassure investors that production cuts led by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are working. While America continues to pump record volumes, accompanied by an increase in exports, Al-Falih said the global oil market is re-balancing and bloated inventories are shrinking. Click Read More below for additional information.

American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 1.7% in April after decreasing 2.8% in March. In April, the index equaled 112.7 (2015=100) compared with 114.7 in March. “While the broader economy continues to surprise and thus far stave off an expected recession, the freight economy is starkly different,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The goods-portion of the economy is soft and as a result, even contract truck freight is now falling, albeit not nearly as much as the spot market. The tonnage index hit the lowest level since September 2021 in April and has now fallen on a year-over-year basis for two straight months.” March’s decline was revised up from our April 18 press release. Compared with April 2022, the SA index decreased 3.4%, which was the largest year-over-year decrease since February 2021. In March, the index was down 2.4% from a year earlier.