U.S. Gasoline & Crude Oil Prices Decline While Natural Gas Prices Surge
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Gasoline prices decline again.
- Crude oil prices also continue to fall.
- Natural gas prices strengthen further.
Retail gasoline prices fell to $3.88 per gallon (+23.4% y/y) last week after declining to $3.94 per gallon in the prior week. Prices have declined for ten consecutive weeks, down from a record $5.01 per gallon in the second week of June.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices fell to $90.17 per barrel (+38.6% y/y) last week after rising to $94.65 per barrel in the prior week. It was the lowest cost of crude oil since the first week of February and down from a peak $120.46 per barrel in the second week of June. Yesterday, the price was $90.23 per barrel. The average price of Brent crude oil fell to $96.73 per barrel (+42.1% y/y) after rising to $104.54 per barrel in the prior week. The price peaked at $127.40 in mid-June. Yesterday, the price was $95.06 per barrel.
The price of natural gas rose sharply to $9.19/mmbtu (135.6% y/y) in the week of August 19 from $8.15/mmbtu in the previous week. It was the highest level since the third week of February 2021. Prices remained up from a low of $3.56/mmbtu in the last week of December. Yesterday, the price was $9.85/mmbtu.
In the four weeks ended August 12, gasoline demand fell 4.2% y/y compared to 15.2% y/y growth at the end of last year. Demand for all petroleum products declined 3.2% y/y, off from 14.4% growth at the end of 2021. Crude oil input to refineries increased 1.4% y/y.
Gasoline inventories fell 5.5% y/y in the week of August 12 while crude oil inventories declined an accelerated 16.2% y/y.
Measured in days' supply, gasoline inventories in the week ended August 12 fell sharply to 23.8 days from 24.9 days in the prior week. The supply of crude oil eased to 26.2 days and remained down from 41.8 days in early-March of last year.
These data are reported by the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy. The price data can be found in Haver's WEEKLY and DAILY databases. Greater detail on prices, as well as the demand, production and inventory data are in USENERGY.
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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