Global| Feb 24 2009U.S. Gasoline Prices Dipped
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, regular gasoline prices last week dipped five cents from the earlier period. Nevertheless, at an average $1.91 per gallon prices remained near their recent high, up 30 cents from the low. [...]
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, regular gasoline prices last week dipped five cents from the earlier period. Nevertheless, at an average $1.91 per gallon prices remained near their recent high, up 30 cents from the low. Yesterday, the recent downturn continued. The spot market price for regular gasoline was $1.06 per gallon, down from the high of two weeks ago of $1.32 per gallon.
Weekly gasoline prices can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. Daily prices are in the DAILY database.
Gasoline demand continued down last week in reaction to the economy's weakness, the U.S. Department of Energy reported. But the year-to-year shortfall eased further to -1.2% from its worst comparison of -4.8% last October (the latest four weeks versus the same four weeks in 2008). Demand for all petroleum products was unchanged y/y after the -8.0% comparison last October. These numbers are available in Haver's OILWKLY database.
The price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude fell back last week to $40.50 per barrel from the average $41.72 during January. Prices reached a high of $145.66 last July. In futures trading yesterday, the one-month price for crude oil was $38.44 per barrel. Last week's average was $36.99.
The price of natural gas fell further last week to $4.32 per mmbtu (-51.3% y/y). The latest average price was down two-thirds from the high reached in early-July of $13.19/mmbtu.
| Weekly Prices | 02/23/09 | 02/16/09 | Y/Y | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon) | 1.91 | 1.96 | -39.0% | 3.25 | 2.80 | 2.57 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 36.99 | 36.91 | -62.8% | 100.16 | 72.25 | 66.12 |
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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