Global| Jan 04 2011U.S. Gasoline Prices Higher With Crude Oil Costs
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Reports of improvement in economies worldwide have lent strength to energy prices. Last week, the pump price for regular gasoline rose another two cents to $3.07 per gallon following the prior week's seven cent rise. Prices were the [...]
Reports of improvement in economies worldwide have lent strength to energy prices. Last week, the pump price for regular gasoline rose another two cents to $3.07 per gallon following the prior week's seven cent rise. Prices were the firmest since October 2008 and were up from the December-2008 low of $1.61. Yesterday the spot market price for a gallon of regular gasoline of $2.45 was up another three cents from last week's average. Typically, pump prices decline this time of year due to lessened seasonal demand. To account for this pattern Haver Analytics calculates seasonal factors and the adjusted gasoline price slipped to $3.58 per gallon from the high during the prior week of $3.62.
Crude oil prices also firmed last week to $90.82 per barrel of light sweet crude (WTI). Yesterday, the crude price rose further to $91.55 per barrel. Here again, normal seasonal factors are looking for lower crude prices. The seasonally adjusted cost of a barrel of crude oil fell to $105.06 per barrel as calculated by Haver Analytics.
Lastly, natural gas prices rose to an average of $4.14 per mmbtu versus $3.49 during October. Yesterday, prices jumped to $4.51 but still were down from last year's early-January high of $6.50.
Demand for gasoline increased 2.9% last week versus last year. The demand for residual fuel oil jumped 17.7% and distillate demand rose 4.9% y/y. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products rose a greatly lessened 1.1% during the last twelve months.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY
| Weekly Price | 1/3/11 | 12/27/10 | 12/20/10 | Y/Y% | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 3.07 | 3.05 | 2.98 | 15.2 | 2.35 | 3.25 | 2.80 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI($ per bbl.) | 90.82 | 90.18 | 88.25 | 14.8 | 61.39 | 100.16 | 72.25 |
| Natural Gas ($/mmbtu) | 4.14 | 4.08 | 4.23 | -29.5 | 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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