Recent Updates
- US: Business Employment Dynamics (Q2), Advance Durable Goods (Dec)
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Mortgage Applications Tumble
The MBA Mortgage Loan Applications Index fell 4.1% w/w (+39.7% y/y) in the weekend January 22...
U.S. Consumer Confidence Recovers During January
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased 2.5% (-31.5% y/y) to 89.3 during January...
U.S. FHFA House Price Index Rose Further in November
The FHFA House Price Index increased 1.0% m/m in November...
U.S. Energy Prices Are Mixed
The price of regular gasoline rose to $2.39 per gallon (-4.5% y/y) in the week ended January 25...
U.K. Retail Survey Shows Extreme Weakness
The CBI U.K. retail volume survey shows dramatically weakened data for January and for the February outlook...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller April 3, 2018
Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.70 per gallon last week (14.4% y/y) and landed at the highest level since August 2015. Haver Analytics constructs factors adjusting for the seasonal variation in gasoline pump prices. The seasonally-adjusted price rose to $2.70 per gallon, the highest level in five weeks.
WTI crude oil prices rose to $65.03 per barrel last week, up 32.3% y/y. Prices were just below the early-February high of $65.22 per barrel. Prices eased to $63.01 per barrel yesterday. Brent crude oil prices increased to $69.48 per barrel last week and were $67.70 yesterday.
Natural gas prices nudged higher to $2.64/mmbtu (-12.4% y/y) last week compared to $2.63/mmbtu during the prior week and were $2.72/mmbtu yesterday.
In the week ended March 23, gasoline demand increased 0.6% y/y, while total petroleum product demand improved 5.7% y/y. Gasoline inventories eased 0.1% y/y, while inventories of all petroleum products fell 8.6% y/y. Crude oil input to refineries improved 4.6% y/y in the last four weeks.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The petroleum demand and inventory figures are from the Oil & Gas Journal Weekly. These data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and greater detail on prices, demand and production, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 04/02/18 | 03/26/18 | 03/19/18 | Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.70 | 2.65 | 2.60 | 14.4 | 2.47 | 2.31 | 2.03 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 65.03 | 64.14 | 61.30 | 32.3 | 50.87 | 43.22 | 48.90 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, WSJ) | 2.64 | 2.63 | 2.69 | -12.4 | 2.96 | 2.49 | 2.62 |