Global| Dec 01 2009Weekly Gasoline Prices Are Flat Again
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Gasoline prices continued their sideways movement last week. The pump price for regular gasoline of $2.63 per gallon equaled the June average. Moreover, during the six months, prices moved in a tight range between $2.47 and $2.69. [...]
Gasoline
prices continued their sideways movement last week. The pump
price for regular gasoline of $2.63 per gallon equaled the
June average. Moreover, during the six months, prices moved in a tight
range between $2.47 and $2.69. Nevertheless, gasoline prices remain up
from the December low of $1.61. Yesterday, wholesale gasoline prices
began the week roughly equal to last week's average. The figures are
reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY
& DAILY databases.
Breaking away from the recently firm pricing pattern, the price for a barrel of light sweet crude (WTI) oil moved down last week to $76.10 which was the lowest level in one month. Still, prices were up from the December low of $32.37. Yesterday, the spot market price for light sweet crude oil moved slightly higher to $77.28 per barrel.
Behind the stabilization in
gasoline prices is a leveling of past gains in gasoline demand. Last
week, demand posted a 0.2% increase versus one year ago versus a 3.9%
increase at the beginning of last month. Breaking away from earlier y/y
strength, the demand for residual fuel oil fell 0.4% y/y while
distillate demand continued weak and fell 10.7% y/y.· Natural gas
prices remained weak last week at an average $3.62 per mmbtu (-45.7%
y/y). They remained down by two-thirds from the high reached in
early-July of last year of $13.19/mmbtu.
The weekly energy price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database while the daily figures are in DAILY. The gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY.
Small business lending is yesterday's House testimony by Jon D. Greenlee, Associate Director, Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation at the Federal Reserve Board and it can be found here.
| Weekly Prices | 11/30/09 | 11/23/09 | 11/16/09 | Y/Y | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.63 | 2.64 | 2.63 | 45.2% | 3.25 | 2.80 | 2.57 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 76.10 | 78.36 | 78.21 | 45.0% | 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.
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