U.S. Energy Prices Are Mixed in Latest Week

Retail gasoline prices for all grades increased to $3.57 per gallon (1.0% y/y) in the week ended March 18 after rising to $3.49 in the prior week. These compare to a low of $3.18 in the middle of January. The recent high stands at $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 were little changed at an average $4.03 per gallon (-3.8% y/y) last week versus $4.00 per gallon in the prior week. A recent low of $3.77 per gallon occurred in the week ended July 3, 2023.

The average price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose to $79.88 per barrel (14.6% y/y) in the week ended March 15 from an average $79.16 in the prior week. It remained well above its low of $69.37 per barrel in the week of June 30, 2023 but below 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, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose to $82.72 per barrel. The price of European Brent crude oil slipped to $84.52 per barrel (+12.7% y/y) in the week ended March 15 from $85.63 in the prior 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. Yesterday, the price was $86.47 per barrel.

Natural gas prices declined to an average of $1.40/mmbtu (-43.3% y/y) in the week ended March 15 compared to $1.55/mmbtu in the prior week. These were the lowest prices since December 1998 and compare to a recent high of $3.20 averaged in the week of October 13, 2023. Yesterday, the natural gas price was $1.54/mmbtu.

Gasoline demand declined 1.3% y/y in the four weeks ended March 8 after falling 2.9% y/y in the four weeks ended March 1. Demand for all petroleum products rose 1.0% y/y after falling 1.3% y/y in the prior four-week period. Crude oil input to refineries eased 0.3% y/y in the four weeks ended March 8, falling 1.5% y/y in the previous four week period.

Gasoline inventories slipped 0.8% y/y in the week of March 8 following a 0.7% y/y increase in the prior week. Inventories of residual fuel oil fell 6.0% y/y in the week of March 8 after declining 4.6% y/y in the previous week. Crude oil inventories, including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decreased 5.1% y/y in the week of March 8 following a 4.8% y/y decline one week earlier.

Measured in days’ supply, gasoline inventories were 27.0 days in the week of March 8 versus 28.3 days in the prior week. The recent low was 23.4 days in the week of June 30, 2023. Crude oil inventories declined to 29.7 days of supply in the week of March 8, down from 30.4 days in the prior week. These compare to a recent high of 31.9 days in the week of March 3, 2023 and a 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 database.