GAS PRICE STREAK HITS 7 WEEKS, 8 STATES BELOW $3

For the seventh straight week, the nation’s average price of gasoline has dropped, falling 7.0 cents from a week ago to $3.38 per gallon yesterday 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 down 32.8 cents from a month ago and 40.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 6.6 cents in the last week and stands at $4.38 per gallon—93 cents lower than one year ago.

“For the seventh straight week, we’ve seen the national average price of gasoline decline. With cooler weather comes cooler gasoline prices, and as we inch closer to the Thanksgiving holiday, prices will continue to fall virtually coast to coast. Eight states are now seeing average gas prices below $3 per gallon,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “While the national average is now at its lowest since March, the decline is likely to continue for at least another couple of weeks, with California likely soon falling below $5, while more states fall under $3. Millions of Americans already have access to $2.99/gal or cheaper, and I expect that number to continue to grow this week.”

OIL PRICES

While oil prices have generally moved lower in recent weeks, the weekend saw Saudi Arabia and Russia confirming they’d continue their supply cuts through the end of 2023, establishing a firmer floor on oil prices as they’ve fallen $13/bbl from their late summer high of $94. In early Monday trade, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 97 cents to $81.48 per barrel, a $2.50 drop from last week’s $83.93 per barrel print. Brent crude oil was also in the green, up 76 cents to $85.65 per barrel, also trading at a $2 discount to last Monday’s $89.04 per barrel level. With tensions in the Middle East rising, there remains the risk that the Biden administration may have to act more forcefully against Iran, potentially curbing the flow of oil, pushing prices higher.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS

Last week’s report from the Energy Information Administration showed a slight 800,000 barrel increase in oil inventories, which remain about 5% below the five-year seasonal average, while the SPR held unchanged. Domestic crude oil production, too, was unchanged at 13.2 million barrels. Gasoline inventories inched up 100,000 barrels but stand 8.2% higher than a year ago and 2% above the five-year seasonal average for this time of year. Distillate inventories slipped 800,000 barrels, but are slightly higher, 4.5 million barrels, than a year ago. Implied gasoline demand, EIA’s proxy for retail gasoline demand, fell 167,000 bpd to 8.7 million barrels, while refinery utilization fell 0.2 percentage points to 85.4%. Total petroleum inventories in the U.S. stand up 3.1% from a year ago, excluding the SPR, while including the SPR shows a 0.6% drop from a year ago.

FUEL DEMAND

According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 1.3% for the week ending October 28 (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand rose 1.3% in PADD 1, rose 1.0% in PADD 2, rose 3.1% in PADD 3, fell 4.1% in PADD 4, and fell 0.3% in PADD 5. GasBuddy models U.S. gasoline demand at 8.76 million barrels per day.

GAS PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $2.99 per gallon, down 20 cents from last week, followed by $3.19, $3.29, $3.09, and $3.49 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. gas price is $3.19 per gallon, down 6 cents from last week and about 19 cents lower than the national average.
The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.93 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.70 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average prices: Georgia ($2.93), Texas ($2.94), and Mississippi ($2.94).
The states with the highest average prices: California ($5.12), Hawaii ($4.71), and Washington ($4.55).

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $4.29 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $4.19, $3.99, $4.49, and $4.39 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. diesel price is $4.25 per gallon, down 1 cent from last week and about 13 cents lower than the national average for diesel.
Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $5.56 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.73 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.87), Mississippi ($3.92), and Louisiana ($3.97).
The states with the highest average diesel prices: California ($6.03), Hawaii ($5.68), and Washington ($5.35)

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