Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Sentiment (Feb-final), Chicago PMI (Feb),Personal Income, Adv Trade & Inventories (Jan)
- US: Consumer Sentiment Detail (Feb-final)
- Canada: Industrial Product Prices (Jan)
- UK: Motor Vehicle Production (Jan)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
Chicago Business Barometer Declines Sharply in February
The ISM-Chicago Purchasing Managers Business Barometer fell 4.3 points in February to 59.5...
Goods Trade Deficit Widened Slightly in January
The advance estimate of the U.S. trade deficit in goods widened slightly to $83.74 billion in January..
Japan's Industrial Sector Mounts a Comeback
Japan's IP surged in January gaining 4.3% compared to December...
Aircraft Orders Boost U.S. Durable Goods Orders in January
Manufacturers' orders for durable goods increased a much larger-than-expected 3.4% m/m (4.5% y/y) in January...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Increases Again in February
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index rose to 24 in February...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller February 2, 2021
• Gasoline prices continue to rise.
• Oil prices ease slightly.
• Natural gas prices bounce back.
The price of regular gasoline increased to $2.41 per gallon (-1.9% y/y) in the week ended February 1 from $2.39 per gallon in the previous week. It was the highest price since the first week of March 2020. Haver Analytics adjusts the gasoline price series for normal seasonal variation. The seasonally adjusted price rose to $2.62 per gallon last week from $2.61 in the previous week.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices slipped to an average of $52.56 per barrel (-0.3% y/y) in the week ended January 29 from $52.88 per barrel in the previous week. The price remained up versus the $17.47 per barrel low averaged in April of last year. The average price of Brent crude oil was fairly steady at $55.63 (-5.0% y/y) last week.
The price of natural gas rebounded to $2.71/mmbtu (39.0% y/y) in the week ended January 29 after falling to $2.54/mmbtu in the previous week. Prices remained substantially higher than the $1.52/mmbtu low in the third week of June last year.
In the four weeks ended January 22, gasoline demand fell 10.9% y/y. Crude oil input to refineries fell 7.6% y/y. Gasoline inventories fell 5.2% y/y while inventories of all petroleum products rose 1.8% y/y. The supply of gasoline in inventory in the week ended January 22 was 32.0 days, up from a recent low of 26.4 days in late-October.
These data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on prices, as well as the demand, production and inventory data are in USENERGY.
Weekly Energy Prices | 02/01/21 | 01/25/21 | 01/18/21 | Y/Y % | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Retail Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular, Monday) | 2.41 | 2.39 | 2.38 | -1.9 | 2.24 | 2.57 | 2.27 |
Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl, Previous Week's Average) | 52.56 | 52.88 | 52.79 | -0.3 | 39.43 | 56.91 | 64.95 |
Natural Gas ($/mmbtu, LA, Previous Week's Average) | 2.71 | 2.54 | 2.82 | 39.0 | 2.03 | 2.57 | 3.18 |