U.S. Gasoline Prices Rise & Crude Oil Prices Weaken
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
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Gasoline prices at five-week high.
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Crude oil prices fall to four-week low.
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Natural gas prices decline sharply.
Retail gasoline prices increased last week to $3.26 per gallon (-1.1% y/y) after rising to $3.22 per gallon during the previous week. Prices remained below the mid-June peak of $5.01 per gallon. The retail cost of diesel fuel eased to $4.55 per gallon (+24.4% y/y) last week from $4.58 in the prior week. The price reached a peak of $5.81per gallon in the third week of June.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices weakened to an average $74.29 per barrel (-4.6% y/y) in the week ended January 6 and reversed the prior week's increase to $79.31 per barrel. It was the lowest price in four weeks and remained below a high of $120.46 in the second week of June. Yesterday, the price was $74.63 per barrel. The average price of Brent crude oil fell to an average $78.33 per barrel last week (-2.7% y/y) from $81.98 in the prior week. The price peaked at $127.40 in mid-June. Yesterday, the price was $77.50 per barrel.
The price of natural gas declined to $3.65/mmbtu (-3.9% y/y) in the week ended January 6 after falling to $4.06/mmbtu in the previous week. The latest was down from $6.35/mmbtu in the fourth week of December. Prices peaked at $9.56/mmbtu in the last week of August, up from a low of $3.56/mmbtu in the last week of December, 2021. Yesterday, the price was $3.65/mmbtu.
In the four weeks ended December 30, gasoline demand declined 7.0% from a year earlier after falling 6.7% y/y during the prior four weeks. These declines compare to 15.2% y/y growth at the end of 2021. Demand for all petroleum products weakened 4.3% y/y in the latest four weeks in contrast to the 14.4% growth at the end of 2021. Crude oil input to refineries fell 1.6% y/y.
Gasoline inventories fell 4.3% y/y in the week ended December 30, while crude oil inventories declined 21.6% y/y.
Measured in days' supply, gasoline inventories in the week ended December 30 rose w/w to 26.3 days but remained the 29.2 days in early-February of last year. The supply of crude oil rose to 27.1 days but remained below the 41.8 supply in early-March of 2021.
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.
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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