U.S. Petroleum Prices Edged Down in Latest Week, while Natural Gas Rose

Retail gasoline prices for all grades edged down to an average of $3.18 per gallon (-6.9%) in the week ended January 15 from $3.20 the week before. The recent high was $4.00 per gallon in the third week of September, and the all-time high was $5.11 in the week ended June 13, 2022. Retail prices for on-highway diesel fuel averaged $3.86 per gallon in the January 15 week (-14.6% y/y), up from $3.83 the week before. These are up modestly from a recent low of $3.77 per gallon in the ended July 3, 2023.

The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil averaged $71.91 per barrel (-6.7% y/y) in the week ended January 12, down from $72.38 in the prior week. The recent range for this basic petroleum gauge was a low of $69.32 per barrel in the week of June 30, 2023, and a high of $91.45 in the week of September 29, 2023; the all-time high was seen in the week of July 4, 2008, at $142.46 per barrel. Yesterday, January 16, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was $72.40 per barrel. The price of European Brent crude oil rose to $78.37 per barrel (-2.8% y/y) in the week ended January 12 from $76.88 in the January 5 week. The price of Brent has recently ranged from a low of $73.55 in the week ended June 30, 2023, to a high of $127.40 in the week ended June 10, 2022.

Natural gas prices rose to an average of $3.09/mmbtu in the week ended January 12 from $2.68/mmbtu in the January 5 week. The latest week compares to a recent high of $3.20 for the average of the October 13 week and a low of $1.93 in the week of June 2, 2023. Yesterday, the natural gas price touched $3.25/mmbtu, which it has also hit on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week.

Gasoline demand remained firm in the four-week period ended January 5, rising 3.2% from a year ago, up from 2.7% in the four weeks ended December 29. Demand for all petroleum products was up 1.6% in the four weeks ended January 5 after increasing 0.6% in the period ended December 29. Crude oil input to refineries strengthened further in the four weeks ended January 5, advancing 9.3% y/y after a 6.0% increase in the prior four-week period.

Gasoline inventories continued to increase in the January 5 week, rising 8.0% y/y following a 6.4% y/y increase the week before. Stocks of residual fuel oil fell 12.8% y/y in the January 5 week, less than the prior week’s 17.8% y/y decrease. Crude oil inventories, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased 2.9% y/y in the January 5 week, following a 1.0% decrease the week before.

Measured in days’ supply, gasoline inventories were 28.7 days in the January 5 week, up from 27.3 days in the December 29 week. The recent high was 29.7 days in the week of January 20, 2023, and the recent low was 23.4 days in the week of June 30, 2023. Crude oil inventories marked 26.1 days of supply in the January 5 week, marginally more than the 26.1 days in the December 29 week; these compare to a recent high of 31.9 days in the week of March 3, 2023, and a recent low of 25.0 days in the week of September 1, 2023.

These data are reported by the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy. The price and supply/demand data can be found in Haver’s WEEKLY & USENERGY databases.