Global| Dec 21 2010U.S. Gasoline Prices Hold Steady
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The recent firming of gasoline prices took a breather last week. Nevertheless, as the pump price for regular gasoline remained at $2.98 per gallon. It still was the firmest since October 2008. Prices have risen roughly fifty cents per [...]
The recent firming of gasoline prices took a breather last week. Nevertheless, as the pump price for regular gasoline remained at $2.98 per gallon. It still was the firmest since October 2008. Prices have risen roughly fifty cents per gallon since the middle of last year and have surged from the December-2008 low of $1.61. Yesterday the spot market price for a gallon of regular gasoline of $2.42 was up another nine 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 reached a new high of $3.52 per gallon.
Crude oil prices were little changed last week at $88.25 per barrel of light sweet crude (WTI). Yesterday, the crude price rebounded to $88.81 per barrel. Here again, normal seasonal factors are looking for lower crude prices. Consequently, the seasonally adjusted cost of a barrel of crude oil rose to a new high of $103.07 per barrel as calculated by Haver Analytics.
Lastly, natural gas prices fell to an average of $4.23 per mmbtu versus $3.70 in November. Yesterday, prices moved lower to $4.09 and remained down from an early-January high of $6.50.
Demand for gasoline increased 0.6% last week versus last year. The demand for residual fuel oil fell a greatly lessened 0.8% but distillate demand rose 3.9% y/y. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products rose a greatly lessened 0.7% during the last twelve months.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY
| Weekly Price | 12/20/10 | 12/13/10 | 12/06/10 | Y/Y% | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon,Regular) | 2.98 | 2.98 | 2.96 | 15.2 | 2.35 | 3.25 | 2.80 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI($ per bbl.) | 88.25 | 88.50 | 86.36 | 23.0 | 61.39 | 100.16 | 72.25 |
| Natural Gas ($/mmbtu) | 4.23 | 4.45 | 4.20 | -23.1 | 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.
More Economy in Brief
