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Economy in Brief
German PPI Accelerates
The German year-on-year PPI has generally been decelerating since early 2017...
U.S. Leading Economic Indicators Signal Continued Expansion
The Conference Board's Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 0.3% during March...
Philadelphia Fed Factory Conditions Improve; Prices Jump
The Philadelphia Fed reported that its General Factory Sector Business Conditions Index rose to 23.2 during April...
U.S. Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance Are Little Changed
Initial unemployment insurance claims slipped to 232,000 (-6.1% y/y) during the week ended April 14...
U.K. Retail Sales Fall
U.K. GDP is expected to cool its jets when the first quarter GDP number is released...
by Tom Moeller March 11, 2014
Prices in the energy complex firmed last week. The price for a gallon of regular gasoline increased to $3.51 (-5.3% y/y) last week, up 22 cents from the low four weeks ago. Nevertheless, prices remained below the $3.78 per gallon peak reached in February of last year. Haver Analytics constructs seasonal factors to account for seasonal volatility. The adjusted price slipped 2 cents last week to $3.46 per gallon.
The per barrel cost of WTI crude oil improved last week to $102.91 (13.1% y/y) but remained below the $108.67 high in early September. Yesterday, prices slipped to $101.12 per barrel. Brent crude oil prices improved last week to $109.21 per barrel (-0.9% y/y) but yesterday moved back to $108.12 per barrel.
Natural gas prices recovered last week to $6.13 per mmbtu, up roughly three-quarters versus twelve months ago. Yesterday, prices back-pedaled to $4.64 per mmbtu.
The demand for all petroleum products slipped 0.8% y/y last week. Gasoline demand fell 1.5% y/y. Residual fuel oil needs, used for heating, improved 6.4% y/y while distillate demand fell 4.3% y/y. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products fell 2.9% y/y.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the petroleum demand and inventory figures are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 03/10/14 | 03/03/14 | 02/24/14 | Y/Y% | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 3.51 | 3.48 | 3.44 | -5.3 | 3.51 | 3.62 | 3.52 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl., WSJ) | 102.91 | 102.65 | 102.93 | 13.1 | 97.95 | 94.20 | 95.14 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA) | 6.13 | 5.21 | 5.98 | 71.5 | 3.73 | 2.75 | 3.99 |