Global| Feb 02 2010U.S. Weekly Gasoline Prices Meander
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
After hitting the high last June the pump price for regular gasoline has been roughly unchanged. Last week, the price slipped to $2.66 and compares to $2.69 reached during June. Nevertheless, prices remained up 41% from last year. [...]
After
hitting the high last June the pump price for regular
gasoline has been roughly unchanged. Last week, the price
slipped to $2.66 and compares to $2.69 reached during June.
Nevertheless, prices remained up 41% from last year. Yesterday, the
spot market price for a gallon of regular gasoline was near last week's
level at $1.94 but down from the January high of $2.14. The figures are
reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY
& DAILY databases.
Earlier strength in the price for a barrel of light sweet crude (WTI) oil eased somewhat. Last week's price of $74.03 for a barrel of light sweet crude (WTI) was down from the high of $82.59 reached three weeks earlier. Yesterday, the spot price of $74.43 was up slightly from last week. Nevertheless, prices have risen from $71.53 early this past December and are more than double the December 2008 low of $32.37.· Demand for gasoline last week posted a 1.0% decline versus one year ago. That decline compared to a 3.9% increase at the beginning of October. Breaking away from earlier y/y strength, the demand for residual fuel oil fell 19.8% y/y. Distillate demand fell 9.8% y/y, a decline more moderate than the 21.6% y/y shortfall at the beginning of last July. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products fell in January by 6.1% from the July high and were up just 0.4% from one year ago.
As temperatures moderated, U.S. natural gas prices backed off to an average $5.46 per mmbtu (15.0% y/y) from the high of $6.50 early in January. Nevertheless they remained up from $3.35 in November, triple the September low but down by half from the high reached in early-July of 2008 of $13.19/mmbtu.
The energy price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database while the daily figures are in DAILY. The gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY.· Real-time inflation Forecasting in a Changing World from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York can be found here
| Weekly Prices | 02/01/10 | 01/25/10 | 01/18/10 | Y/Y | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.66 | 2.71 | 2.74 | 40.6% | 2.35 | 3.25 | 2.80 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 74.03 | 76.76 | 80.07 | 74.1% | 61.39 | 100.16 | 72.25 |
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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