Recent Updates
- France: HH Consumption of Manufactured Goods (May)
- Turkey: Electricity Statistics (May)
- Germany: Import & Export Prices (May)
- Finland: International Trade Detail (Apr)
- Denmark: Financial Soundness Indicators (Q1)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Mortgage Applications Continued to Rise, but only Slightly
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage applications edged up 0.7% w/w...
Globally Money Supply Slows or Contracts in Real Terms
Money supply trends show that slowing is widespread across the major monetary center countries...
U.S. Consumer Confidence Deteriorates Further in June
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index weakened 4.4% (-23.4% y/y) in June...
U.S. FHFA House Prices Continued to Rise in April
The FHFA House Price Index increased 1.6% during April...
U.S. Advance Trade Deficit Narrowed Slightly in May
The advance estimate of the U.S. international trade deficit in goods narrowed to $104.3 billion in May...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller September 25, 2018
Gasoline prices, at $2.84 per gallon last week (10.1% y/y), were unchanged from the prior week and have been roughly steady since May. Haver Analytics constructs factors to adjust for the marked seasonal variation in prices. The seasonally-adjusted gasoline price rose w/w to $2.76 per gallon from $2.73.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices increased last week to $70.29 per barrel (40.2% y/y) as they closed in on the $73.71 peak reached early in July. Yesterday, the price rose to $72.08. Brent crude oil prices were little changed w/w at $78.64 (40.4% y/y) per barrel last week. The price was $81.33 yesterday.
Natural gas prices improved to $2.99/mmbtu (-3.2% y/y) last week. The price was $3.04 yesterday.
In the four-weeks ending September 21, gasoline demand increased 2.0% y/y; total petroleum product demand rose 4.9% y/y. Gasoline inventories strengthened 8.3% y/y, but inventories of all petroleum products declined 4.3% y/y due to a one-quarter decline in residual fuel oil inventories. Crude oil input to refineries strengthened 14.7% y/y in the last four weeks.
These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on prices, as well as the demand, production and inventory data, along with regional breakdowns, are in OILWKLY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 09/24/18 | 09/17/18 | 09/10/18 | Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon Regular, Monday Price) | 2.84 | 2.84 | 2.83 | 10.1 | 2.47 | 2.31 | 2.03 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl, Previous Week's Average) | 70.29 | 68.95 | 68.52 | 40.2 | 50.87 | 43.22 | 48.90 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, Previous Week's Average) | 2.99 | 2.89 | 2.90 | -3.2 | 2.96 | 2.49 | 2.62 |