U.S. Gasoline Prices Rise; Crude Oil Holds Recent Gains
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
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Gasoline prices highest in two months.
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Crude oil prices also at two-month high.
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Natural gas prices continue to weaken.
Retail gasoline prices increased last week to $3.49 per gallon (3.6% y/y) after rising to $3.42 per gallon during the previous week. Prices remained below the mid-June peak of $5.01 per gallon. The retail cost of diesel fuel improved to $4.62 per gallon (20.2% y/y) last week from $4.60 in the prior week. The price reached a peak of $5.81per gallon in the third week of June.
The cost of West Texas Intermediate of crude oil of $80.46 per barrel (-7.0% y/y) in the week ended January 27 compared to $80.33 per barrel in the prior week. It remained below a high of $120.46 in the second week of June 2022. Yesterday, the price was $77.90 per barrel. The average price of Brent crude oil rose to an average $85.90 per barrel last week (-4.7% y/y) from $84.57 in the prior week. The price peaked at $127.40 in mid-June of 2022. Yesterday, the price was $84.61 per barrel.
The price of natural gas declined to $3.08/mmbtu (-33.0% y/y) in the week ended January 27 after falling to $3.17/mmbtu in the previous week. The latest was down from $6.78/mmbtu in the third week of December. Prices peaked at $9.56/mmbtu in the last week of August, up from a low of $3.56/mmbtu in the last week of December, 2021. Yesterday, the price was $2.82/mmbtu.
In the four weeks ended January 20, gasoline demand declined 4.7% from a year earlier after falling 4.6% y/y during the prior four weeks. These declines compare to 15.2% y/y growth at the end of 2021. Demand for all petroleum products weakened 10.9% y/y in the latest four weeks in contrast to the 14.4% growth at the end of 2021. Crude oil input to refineries fell 6.5% y/y.
Gasoline inventories fell 6.4% y/y in the week ended January 20, while crude oil inventories declined 18.6% y/y.
Measured in days' supply, gasoline inventories in the week ended January 20 rose w/w to 29.7 days. The supply of crude oil rose to 30.8 days but remained below the 41.8 supply in early-March of 2021.
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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