The nation’s average price of gasoline has risen for the third straight week, climbing 4.3 cents from a week ago to $3.64 per gallon today, according to GasBuddy® data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The national average is up 10.8 cents from a month ago and 1.1 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 0.4 cents in the last week and stands at $4.01 per gallon—15 cents lower than one year ago.
“As the nationwide changeover to summer gasoline is now behind us, at least one of the three factors that had been actively causing prices to rise in the last couple of months is behind us. However, it may take time for the largest pain point to be over: refinery maintenance. The next few weeks should see many refineries wrapping up their work and gasoline output should rise, putting downward pressure on gasoline prices soon,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “While Israel’s retribution on Iran was somewhat surprising, it was also measured, with Iran virtually not even mentioning it publicly. As such, the price of oil has moved slightly lower, following the de-escalation that now appears to be taking place. I’m hopeful with reduced concern in the Middle East and an end to the seasonal factors pushing prices up that Americans will soon see relief.”
OIL PRICES
With de-escalation occurring between Israel and Iran after recent direct attacks, oil markets are breathing a sigh of relief. While the danger is not completely gone, risk has been reduced as Iran has largely ignored Israel’s most recent attack. Energy markets have seen downward movement as the CFTC reported last Friday that net longs slipped by over 36,000 lots, indicating more are betting that a potential short-term top in the price of oil may have been reached. In addition, some speculation has exited gasoline, with longs falling nearly 6,000 lots, with a rise in shorts of over 5,000 lots. The skew represents a market that is betting on lower short-term prices. Oil was also in the red in early Monday trading, with WTI crude down 46 cents to $82.68 per barrel, off from last Monday’s $85.09 fetch. Brent was also down in early trade, falling 86 cents to $86.43 per barrel, down from $89.69 on last week’s open.
OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS
Last week’s report from the EIA showed a 2.7 million barrel increase in crude oil inventories, which are just 1% below the five-year average range. The SPR added another 600,000 barrels and stands at nearly 365 million barrels. Domestic crude oil production was unchanged at 13.1 million barrels per day. Gasoline inventories shed 1.2 million barrels and stand about 4% below the five-year average with a large draw on the West Coast, where heavy refinery maintenance has pushed prices up considerably. Distillate inventories rose by 2.8 million barrels, which is still down 7% compared to the five-year average for this time of year. Implied gasoline demand slipped to 8.66 million barrels per day, while refinery utilization also slipped 0.2 percentage points to 88.1%.
FUEL DEMAND
According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 1.4% for the week ending April 20 (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand rose 1.9% in PADD 1, rose 2.2% in PADD 2, fell 1.5% in PADD 3, rose 0.5% in PADD 4, and rose 2.3% in PADD 5. GasBuddy models U.S. gasoline demand at 8.820 million barrels per day for the week ending April 13.
GAS PRICE TRENDS
The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.59 per gallon, up 20 cents from last week, followed by $3.39, $3.29, $3.49, and $3.69 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. gas price is $3.49 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week and about 15 cents lower than the national average. The top 10% of stations in the country average $5.12 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.02 per gallon. The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($3.06), Louisiana ($3.11), Colorado ($3.14).
The states with the highest average prices: California ($5.40), Hawaii ($4.72), and Washington ($4.62).
DIESEL PRICE TRENDS
The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.99 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.79, $3.89, $3.69, and $4.19 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. diesel price is $3.89 per gallon, unchanged from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average for diesel.
Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $5.01 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.44 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Colorado ($3.57), Oklahoma ($3.61), and Texas ($3.61).
The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.58), California ($5.39), and Washington ($4.64).