· Pump prices for regular unleaded gasoline slipped a penny last week to an average $2.29 per gallon after the nickel increase during the prior week. That left this month's average price for gasoline up seven cents from the November average of $2.23.

· Some relief from higher gas prices may be signaled by yesterday's spot market (NY harbor) price for a gallon of regular gasoline which fell sharply to $1.59 per gallon, the lowest in a month. 

· Crude oil prices also fell yesterday but at $61.23 (-0.1% y/y) prices were still above the $59.37 average for WTI crude during November and the $58.88 in October.

· The latest Short-Term Energy Outlook from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is available here.