Global| Jun 08 2010U.S. Gasoline Price Decline Stabilizes
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
U.S. gasoline prices are down from their recent high, but the decline seems to be loosing momentum. The pump price of regular gasoline held steady last week at $2.73 per gallon prices and prices remained up more than three-quarters [...]
U.S. gasoline prices are down from their recent
high, but the decline seems to be loosing momentum. The pump price of regular
gasoline held steady last week at $2.73 per gallon prices
and prices remained up more than three-quarters since the December 2008
low. Yesterday the spot market price for a gallon of regular gasoline
also held roughly steady with last week's average of $1.94 which was up
from the prior two weeks' average. The figures are reported by the U.S.
Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY
& DAILY databases.
The average price for a barrel of light sweet crude (WTI) rose last week to $72.89 but remained down from the high of $84.23 averaged during April. Yesterday, crude prices slipped with Friday's weak U.S. employment report but at $71.44 per barrel were up from the May 24th low of $66.88.
Demand for gasoline seems to be slipping with higher prices. It fell 0.5% last week versus one year ago but that compares to a 3.0% decline in early-February. The demand for residual fuel oil jumped 32.0%% and distillate demand also surged 11.7% y/y. That's improved from a 12.3% decline during February. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products slipped in late-May but still were up sharply from the early 2010 low.
U.S. natural gas prices strengthened further last week to an average $4.46 per mmbtu (17.5% y/y). Nevertheless, prices remained down from a high of $6.50 early in January.
The energy price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database while the daily figures are in DAILY. The gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY.
| Weekly Prices | 06/07/10 | 05/31/10 | 05/24/10 | y/y | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.73 | 2.73 | 2.79 | 3.8% | 2.35 | 3.25 | 2.80 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 72.89 | 71.13 | 69.02 | 7.0% | 61.39 | 100.16 | 72.25 |
| Natural Gas Price ($/mmbtu) | 4.46 | 4.18 | 4.25 | 17.5% | 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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