Global| Nov 02 2010U.S. Gasoline Prices Remain In Sideways Trend
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Sideways has typified the gasoline price trend for some time. The pump price for regular gasoline slipped to $2.81 per gallon last week, down one penny w/w. Prices have been slightly above or below the current level, but are close to [...]
Sideways has typified the gasoline price trend for some time. The pump price
for regular gasoline slipped to $2.81 per gallon last week, down one
penny w/w. Prices have been slightly above or below the current level, but are
close to where they were in late-March. Before that, moderate economic recovery
during the last year was enough to help pull prices up from the late-2009 level
of $2.61 and from the December-2008 low of $1.61. Yesterday the spot market
price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.15 vs. $2.12 averaged during last
week.
Crude oil prices also have been firm, but recently have trended sideways. Last week's average price for a barrel of light sweet crude oil (WTI) of $82.02 was near the early-October level which was the highest since May. Yesterday crude prices held at $82.95 per barrel. Natural gas prices slipped again last week to an average of $3.31 per mmbtu but that was down from $3.91 during September. Yesterday, prices recovered somewhat to $3.43 but remained down from an early-January high of $6.50.
Demand for gasoline fell during the latest week by 0.8% versus one year ago. Due to the weaker economy and higher prices, the drop in demand followed increases above 2% through August. The demand for residual fuel oil fell by more than one-third versus last year but distillate demand rose 8.7% y/y. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products have been rising since the winter and were up 4.3% during the last twelve months.
The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY.
| Weekly Prices | 11/01/10 | 10/25/10 | 10/18/10 | Y/Y% | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.81 | 2.82 | 2.83 | 4.2 | 2.35 | 3.25 | 2.80 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI($ per bbl.) | 82.02 | 81.12 | 82.17 | 4.5 | 61.39 | 100.16 | 72.25 |
| Natural Gas ($/mmbtu) | 3.31 | 3.37 | 3.50 | -24.3 | 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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