U.S. Gasoline & Crude Oil Prices Fall Further
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Gasoline costs at six-week low.
- Crude oil prices weaken further.
- Natural gas prices continue to rise.
Retail gasoline prices declined to $4.09 per gallon in the week ended April 11 (+43.6% y/y) from $4.17 per gallon in the week prior. Prices reached a record $4.32 per gallon in the second week of March. Haver Analytics adjusts the gasoline price series for normal seasonal variation. The seasonally adjusted price fell to $4.16 per gallon from $4.21 in the prior week.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil eased to $99.16 per barrel (+67.10% y/y) in the week ended April 8 after falling to $103.84 in the week prior. It compared to a high of $113.33 averaged in the fourth week of March and was the lowest price since the last week of February. Yesterday, the price fell to $94.29 per barrel. The average price of Brent crude oil weakened to $103.33 per barrel last week (+67.1% y/y). Prices had fallen to $111.26 in the prior week from the high of $123.60 in the week prior. The price was $97.92 per barrel yesterday.
The price of natural gas strengthened to $6.08/mmbtu (148.2% y/y) in the week of April 8 after rising to $5.41 in the previous week. The price has risen from a low of $1.52/mmbtu averaged in the third week of June 2020. Yesterday, the price rose to $6.35/mmbtu.
In the four weeks ended April 1, gasoline demand eased 0.3% y/y. Demand had risen 15.2% y/y in late-December, 2021. Growth in demand for all petroleum products rose a greatly lessened 5.5% y/y. Growth in crude oil input to refineries rose a reduced 9.6 y/y. Gasoline inventories rose a weakened 0.9% y/y and crude oil inventories declined 14.0% y/y.
The supply of gasoline inventories in the week ended April 1 held steady at 27.3 days. The supply of crude oil eased to 26.0 days and remained down from 41.8 days early in 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.
Unemployment Insurance Withdrawal from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is available here.
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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