Global| Sep 27 2011U.S. Gasoline Prices Move To Their Lowest Since February
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Slacked demand and lower crude oil prices helped lower retail gasoline prices last week to their least since late-February. The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell another nine cents to $3.51. Prices were down forty-five [...]
Slacked demand and lower crude oil prices helped lower retail gasoline prices last week to their least since late-February. The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell another nine cents to $3.51. Prices were down forty-five cents since the May peak. Retail prices usually start to ease this time of year with reduced seasonal demand. To account for this pattern, Haver Analytics calculates seasonal factors. As a result, the adjusted gasoline price fell to $3.46 per gallon. Yesterday, the wholesale price for a gallon of unleaded fell to $2.59 per gallon versus last week's average $2.68.
Global economic weakness is taking its toll on prices. Crude oil prices fell last week to $83.77 for a barrel of WTI. They remained down from the late-April peak of $113.93. Yesterday, prices again fell sharply to $80.24 per barrel. Brent crude remained relatively expensive versus WTI but yesterday sold for a greatly lessened $108.12 per barrel. Prices peaked at $126.21.
Higher prices continued to negatively affect demand for petroleum products. Gasoline demand fell 1.7% on average during the last four weeks versus last year. Demand for residual fuel oil, used for heating, slipped 0.7% y/y and distillate demand ticked up 0.5%. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products fell 5.1% year-to-year compared to 10.0% growth in the middle of 2009.
Finally, natural gas prices fell sharply w/w to $3.78 per mmbtu. That's versus the early-June high of $4.86 and prices remained down from last year's early-January peak of $6.50. Yesterday, prices ticked up to $3.81.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY
| Weekly Price | 9/26/11 | 9/19/11 | 9/12/11 | Y/Y% | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 3.51 | 3.60 | 3.66 | 30.3 | 2.78 | 2.35 | 3.25 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 83.77 | 88.93 | 87.91 | 13.3 | 79.51 | 61.39 | 100.16 |
| Natural Gas ($/mmbtu) | 3.78 | 3.94 | 3.97 | -6.1 | 4.40 | 3.95 | 8.88 |
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.
