Global| Oct 19 2010Gasoline Prices Move To High End Of Recent Range As Crude Oil Prices Firm
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
After having been somewhat soft in recent weeks, the pump price for regular gasoline rebounded to $2.83 per gallon. Nevertheless, prices remained down from $2.91 in early-May. The moderate economic recovery of the last year has been [...]
After having been somewhat soft in recent weeks, the pump price
for regular gasoline rebounded to $2.83 per gallon.
Nevertheless, prices remained down from $2.91 in early-May. The
moderate economic recovery of the last year has been enough to help
pull prices up from the late-2009 level of $2.61 and from the
December-2008 low of $1.61. Yesterday the spot market price for a
gallon of regular gasoline rose to $2.22 vs. $2.21 last week.
Crude oil prices also have firmed. Last week's average price for a barrel of light sweet crude oil (WTI) of $82.17 was near the highest since May. Yesterday crude prices rose further to $83.08 per barrel. U.S. natural gas prices held steady last week at an average of $3.50 per mmbtu but that was down from $3.91 during September. Yesterday, prices fell further to $3.37 and were down from an early-January high of $6.50.
Demand for gasoline fell during the latest week by 1.1% versus one year ago. The weakening followed increases above 2% through August. The demand for residual fuel oil also fell by 13.7% versus last year but distillate demand rose 8.8% y/y. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products have been rising since the winter and were up 4.3% during the last twelve months.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY.
| Weekly Prices | 10/18/10 | 10/11/10 | 10/04/10 | Y/Y% | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.83 | 2.82 | 2.73 | 10.1 | 2.35 | 3.25 | 2.80 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 82.17 | 82.37 | 78.42 | 8.5 | 61.39 | 100.16 | 72.25 |
| Natural Gas ($/mmbtu) | 3.50 | 3.50 | 3.78 | -10.7 | 3.95 | 8.88 | 6.97 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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