The pump price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell one penny last week to $3.66. Prices remained down thirty cents since the May peak. Pump prices usually rise this time of year with increased seasonal demand. To account for this pattern, Haver Analytics calculates seasonal factors. As a result, the adjusted gasoline price fell to $3.52 per gallon. Yesterday, the wholesale price for a gallon of unleaded fell to $2.82 per gallon versus last week's average $2.93.

Crude oil prices slipped last week to $87.91 for a barrel of WTI. They remained down from the late-April peak of $113.93. Yesterday, prices held at $88.19. Brent crude remained relatively expensive and yesterday sold for $114.50. Prices peaked at $126.21.

Higher prices continued to negatively affect demand for petroleum products. Gasoline demand fell 2.9% on average during the last four weeks versus last year. Demand for residual fuel oil, used for heating, fell 8.0% y/y but distillate demand rose 1.2%. Inventories of crude oil and petroleum products fell 4.5% year-to-year compared to 10.0% growth in the middle of 2009.

Finally, natural gas prices fell w/w to $3.97 per mmbtu. Prices remained down from last year's early-January high of $6.50. Yesterday, prices slipped further to $3.94.

The energy price data are reported by the U.S. Department of Energy and can be found in Haver's WEEKLY database. The daily figures are in DAILY and the gasoline demand figures are in OILWKLY