U.S. Energy Prices Fell Across All Major Products
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Gasoline prices declined for the first time in six weeks.
- Crude oil prices first weekly decline in four weeks.
- Natural gas prices decreased for the seventh consecutive week.
Retail gasoline prices decreased in the week ended February 6 to $3.44 per gallon (unchanged y/y) from $3.49 per gallon in the previous week. Prices remained below the mid-June 2022 peak of $5.01 per gallon but above their late December 2022 low of $3.09. The retail price of diesel fuel fell to $4.54 per gallon (+14.9% y/y) last week from $4.62 per gallon in the previous week. The price reached a recent peak of $5.81per gallon in the third week of June 2022.
The average price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell to $76.52 per barrel (-14.6% y/y) in the week ended February 3, the first weekly decline in four weeks, from $80.47 per barrel in the prior week. Its recent high was $120.46 in the second week of June 2022. Yesterday, the price was $74.11 per barrel. The average price of Brent crude oil fell to $81.81 per barrel last week from $85.90 per barrel in the previous week. The price peaked at $127.40 in mid-June of 2022. Yesterday, the price was $80.48 per barrel.
The price of natural gas declined for the seventh consecutive week. It fell to $2.64/mmbtu (-54.3% y/y) in the week ended February 3, its lowest level since mid-April 2021, from $3.08/mmbtu in the prior week. The latest price was down from $6.78/mmbtu in the third week of December. The most recent peak was $9.56/mmbtu in the last week of August. Yesterday, the price was $2.17/mmbtu.
In the four weeks ended January 27, gasoline demand declined 1.9% from a year earlier after having fallen 4.7% y/y in prior week. These declines compare to 15.2% y/y growth at the end of 2021. Demand for all petroleum products fell 10.5% y/y in the latest four weeks in contrast to the 14.4% annual growth at the end of 2021. Crude oil input to refineries fell 3.8% y/y. Gasoline inventories declined 6.2% y/y in the week ended January 27, while crude oil inventories slumped 17.9% y/y.
Measured in days’ supply, gasoline inventories in the week ended January 27 fell w/w to 29.1 days from 29.7 days in the previous week. The supply of crude oil slipped to 30.5 days from 30.8 days in the prior week.
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.
Sandy Batten
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Sandy Batten has more than 30 years of experience analyzing industrial economies and financial markets and a wide range of experience across the financial services sector, government, and academia. Before joining Haver Analytics, Sandy was a Vice President and Senior Economist at Citibank; Senior Credit Market Analyst at CDC Investment Management, Managing Director at Bear Stearns, and Executive Director at JPMorgan. In 2008, Sandy was named the most accurate US forecaster by the National Association for Business Economics. He is a member of the New York Forecasters Club, NABE, and the American Economic Association. Prior to his time in the financial services sector, Sandy was a Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Treasury, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. Sandy has taught economics at St. Louis University, Denison University, and Muskingun College. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in a wide range of academic publications. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of Richmond and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The Ohio State University.
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