U.S. Energy Prices Hardly Move in Latest Week

Retail gasoline prices edged down by less than a penny over the last week, ending June 26, to $3.685 per gallon (-26.0% y/y) for the average of all grades – premium, midgrade and regular – from $3.690 the week before. Over the last year, the low was $3.203 for the week ended December 26 and the high was $5.107 for the week of June 13, 2022. The retail price for on-highway diesel fuel was $3.801 per gallon (-34.3% y/y) in the week ended yesterday, June 26, 2023, down from $3.815 the week before. The recent low was $3.794 per gallon on June 12, and the recent high was $5.810 on June 20, 2022, which was the all-time high for this diesel price, which runs back to March 1994.

Crude oil prices rose slightly in the latest week, with West Texas Intermediate averaging $70.54 per barrel (-34.4% y/y) in the week ended June 23, up from $69.43 in the June 16 week. The June 16 reading was close to the recent low of $69.41 per barrel in the March 24 week, while the recent high was $120.46 in the week of June 10, 2022. Yesterday, the price was $69.37. Brent crude prices were $75.26 per barrel in the June 23 week (-35.6% y/y), up from the prior week’s $74.39. The recent low price for Brent was $73.89 in the week of June 2, and the recent high was $127.40 in the week of June 10, 2022. Yesterday’s price was $73.86 per barrel.

Natural gas prices average $2.28/mmbtu in the June 23 week (-64.5% y/y), up from $2.05 the week before. While these weekly averages have recently been in a narrow range of $1.93 in the June 2 week to $2.29 in the May 19 week, the latest reading was $2.62 for yesterday, June 26, the highest since $2.65 on March 14.

In the four weeks ended June 16, gasoline demand grew 3.1% from a year ago after increasing 2.4% in the prior four-week period. Demand for all petroleum products increased 0.8% in the June 16 period, the same size advance as in the prior week. Crude oil input to refineries rose 1.3% in the latest four weeks from a year ago.

Gasoline inventories rose 1.1% y/y in the June 16 week after a 1.6% y/y increase the prior week. Stocks of distillate fuel oil rose 4.0% in the latest week after 3.8% the week before and residual fuel oil stocks were up 7.9% in the June 16 week after an 11.7% rise in the June 9 week. Crude oil inventories including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell 11.9% from a year ago after the 12.0% y/y decrease seen the week before.

Measured in days’ supply, gasoline inventories in the June 16 week were 23.6, down slightly from 24.0 days in the June 9 week. The recent high was 29.6 days in late December and the recent low was 22.9 days in the May 19 week. The supply of crude oil as of June 16 was 28.1 days, down very modestly from 28.2 days as of June 9. The recent high was 32.0 days at the beginning of March.

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 database.