U.S. Gasoline Prices Weaken Sharply
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
• Gasoline costs down for sixth straight week.
• Crude oil prices improve slightly.
• Natural gas prices strengthen.
Retail gasoline prices fell to $4.33 per gallon (+38.1% y/y) last week after declining to $4.49 per gallon in the prior week. Prices were at the lowest level since the second week of May, down from a record $5.01 per gallon in the second week of June.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices rose to $100.78 per barrel last week (44.7% y/y) after falling to $99.09 per barrel in the prior week. Prices reached a peak $120.46 per barrel in the second week of June. Yesterday the price was $96.70 per barrel. The average price of Brent crude oil rose to $113.53 per barrel (57.2% y/y) from $109.80 per barrel in the prior week. Yesterday, the price was $108.23 per barrel.
The price of natural gas strengthened to $7.64/mmbtu (94.4% y/y) in the week of July 22 from $6.76 /mmbtu in the previous week. The latest was the highest price in five weeks. Yesterday, the price was $8.52/mmbtu.
In the four weeks ended July 15, gasoline demand fell 7.6% y/y. Demand for all petroleum products weakened 2.6% y/y. Crude oil input to refineries increased 2.4% y/y.
Gasoline inventories decreased 3.4% y/y in the week of July 15 while crude oil inventories declined 14.5% y/y.
Measured in days' supply, gasoline inventories in the week ended July 15 increased to 26.2 days, the most since the end of April. The supply of crude oil was little-changed at 25.8 days, 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 Haver220726s 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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