Global| Jan 05 2010U.S. Weekly Gasoline Prices Move Higher
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Evidence of a U.S. economic recovery has given life to energy prices. The pump price for regular gasoline rose to $2.67 per gallon last week, the highest level since early-November. Gasoline prices remain up from the December '08 low [...]
Evidence of
a U.S. economic recovery has given life to energy prices. The pump
price for regular gasoline rose to $2.67 per gallon last
week, the highest level since early-November. Gasoline prices remain up
from the December '08 low of $1.61. Further strength in prices was
evident yesterday when the spot market price for a gallon of regular
gasoline jumped to $2.10 per gallon from $2.01 the prior week and from
$1.85 at the beginning of December. The figures are reported by the
U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY
& DAILY databases.
Strength also was evident in the price for a barrel of light sweet crude (WTI) oil. Yesterday, the nearby futures price jumped to $81.51 from $79.07 averaged last week and from $71.53 averaged in early-December. Moreover, prices were up sharply from the December '08 low of $32.37. Inflation May Be the Next Dragon to Slay from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis can be found here .
Demand for
gasoline leveled off last week and posted a 0.2% 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 a sharp 28.6% y/y while distillate
demand fell 8.8% y/y, a decline more moderate than the 21.6% y/y
shortfall at the beginning of last July.
Natural gas prices also strengthened significantly with the winter heating season. Last week prices averaged $5.87 per mmbtu (3.9% y/y), up from the November low of $3.35. Nevertheless, prices remained down by more than half from the high reached in early-July of 2008 of $13.19/mmbtu.
The weekly energy price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database while the daily figures are in DAILY. The gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY.
| Weekly Prices | 01/04/10 | 12/28/09 | 12/21/09 | Y/Y | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.67 | 2.61 | 2.59 | 58.3% | 3.25 | 2.80 | 2.57 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 79.14 | 75.09 | 71.77 | 86.2% | 100.16 | 72.25 | 66.12 |
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
