Global| Sep 29 2010Stability Describes Recent Energy Price Movement
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Tracking gasoline prices this Summer required little more than a ruler as the pump price for regular gasoline moved sideways near last week's level of $2.69 per gallon. Prices remained down from $2.91 in early-May. Nevertheless, [...]
Tracking gasoline prices this Summer required little more than a ruler as the pump price for regular gasoline moved sideways near last week's level of $2.69 per gallon. Prices remained down from $2.91 in early-May. Nevertheless, pulled higher with recovery from the last recession, prices have risen 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 also was steady at $1.97 vs. $1.96 last week.
The average price for a barrel of light sweet crude oil (WTI) slipped last week to $73.93 and there has been greater fluctuation in prices since July. The latest remained down from the high of $84.23 averaged during April. Yesterday crude prices held at $76.18 per barrel. U.S. natural gas prices also were stable last week at an average of $4.02, up slightly from $3.82 per mmbtu at the beginning of the month. Yesterday, prices slipped back and were down from an early-January high of $6.50.
Demand for gasoline held roughly constant during the latest week versus one year ago. The demand for residual fuel oil fell by 9.2% versus last year but distillate demand rose a strengthened 12.9% y/y. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products have been rising since the winter and were up 2.4% during the last twelve months.
The energy price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database while the daily figures are in DAILY. The gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY.
| Weekly Prices | 09/27/10 | 09/20/10 | 09/13/10 | Y/Y % | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.69 | 2.72 | 2.72 | 7.8 | 2.35 | 3.25 | 2.80 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 73.93 | 75.65 | 74.87 | 8.1 | 61.39 | 100.16 | 72.25 |
| Natural Gas ($/mmbtu) | 4.02 | 4.02 | 3.82 | 15.5 | 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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