Global| Dec 09 2009Weekly Gasoline Prices Slide Sideways
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Gasoline prices haven't moved much during the last four weeks. The pump price for regular gasoline of $2.63 per gallon last week was down two cents from the November average but remained in the tight range between $2.47 and $2.69 [...]
Gasoline
prices haven't moved much during the last four weeks. The pump
price for regular gasoline of $2.63 per gallon last week was
down two cents from the November average but remained in the tight
range between $2.47 and $2.69 since June. Nevertheless, gasoline prices
remain up from the December low of $1.61. Yesterday, wholesale gasoline
prices remained down slightly from 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.
The price
for a barrel of light
sweet crude (WTI) oil rose slightly last week to $76.84 but that still
was near the lowest level since mid-October. Prices remained up from
the December low of $32.37. Yesterday, the spot market price for light
sweet crude oil fell to $72.62 per barrel.
Natural gas prices moved higher last week to an average $4.50 per mmbtu (-30.2% y/y), the highest level since late-October. Nevertheless, they remained down by two-thirds from the high reached in early-July of last year of $13.19/mmbtu.
Last week, the demand for gasoline posted a 0.4% increase versus one year ago, down from the 3.9% increase at the beginning of last month. Breaking away from earlier y/y strength, the demand for residual fuel oil fell 22.0% y/y while distillate demand also fell by 9.9% y/y. These demand figures are in OILWKLY.
| Weekly Prices | 12/07/09 | 11/30/09 | 11/23/09 | Y/Y | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail Regular Gasoline ($ per Gallon, Regular) | 2.63 | 2.63 | 2.64 | 55.0% | 3.25 | 2.80 | 2.57 |
| Light Sweet Crude Oil, WTI ($ per bbl.) | 76.84 | 76.10 | 78.36 | 68.9% | 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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