GAS PRICES SEE ULTRA-RARE SUMMER DOUBLE DIGIT WEEKLY DROP

For the second straight week, the nation’s average price of gasoline has decreased, falling 10.0 cents from a week ago to $3.40 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 down 23.0 cents from a month ago and is 18.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 6.7 cents in the last week and stands at $3.75 per gallon—14 cents lower than one year ago.

“We’ve seen one of the larger weekly drops in the national average price of gasoline in some time, and what incredible timing that it comes at the beginning of the summer driving season,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Not only have gasoline prices plummeted in nearly every state in the last week, but nearly every state has also seen prices drop compared to a month ago. With the declines, Americans will spend roughly $425 million less per week on gasoline than a year ago. In addition, the price of diesel has fallen alongside gasoline to its lowest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. This price decline party is ramping up, and I expect additional declines ahead of July 4 for both gasoline and diesel prices. Six states now have average prices below $3 per gallon, and more will join soon, with the number of U.S. stations at $2.99 or lower already nearing 25,000. It’s a great start to summer for those hitting the road.”

OIL PRICES

After a sluggish start to last week on the heels of OPEC+’s meeting, oil has seen somewhat of a rally on hopes of rising fuel demand after the U.S. jobs report last week showed more jobs added than anticipated. In addition, several large banks have raised the prospect of higher crude oil prices going into late summer, helping oil to turn around its early week losses last week. At press time, a barrel of WTI crude was up 90 cents to $76.43 per barrel, still a slight drop from last Monday’s $77.04 per barrel start. Meanwhile, Brent crude was up 85 cents to $80.47 but still trading lower than last Monday’s $81.18 per barrel fetch. However, with an increase in oil inventories in OECD countries, oil prices could find a rally difficult.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS

Last week’s report from the EIA showed a rise across the board in oil, gasoline, and distillate inventories. Oil inventories rose 1.2 million barrels while remaining about 4% below the five-year average, while the SPR rose another 900,000 barrels. Domestic crude production remains unchanged at 13.1 million barrels per day. Gasoline inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels and are nearly 6% above year-ago levels, while distillate inventories jumped 3.2 million barrels and are now almost 11 million barrels ahead of last year. Implied gasoline demand, EIA’s metric for consumption, fell 203,000 bpd to 8.95 million barrels per day. Refinery utilization also jumped to its highest level in months, climbing to 95.4% of capacity.

FUEL DEMAND

According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 2.7% for the week ending June 8 (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand rose 2.5% in PADD 1, rose 2.5% in PADD 2, rose 5.0% in PADD 3, rose 3.2% in PADD 4, and rose 0.9% in PADD 5. GasBuddy models U.S. gasoline demand at 8.884 million barrels per day for the week ending June 8.

GAS PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.29 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.19, $3.39, $2.99, and $3.09 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. gas price is $3.28 per gallon, down 11 cents from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average.

The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.68 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.79 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average prices: Oklahoma ($2.88), Texas ($2.91), Mississippi ($2.91).

The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.86), Hawaii ($4.68), and Washington ($4.34).

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.69 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.99, $3.59, $3.49, and $3.79 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. diesel price is $3.65 per gallon, down 4 cents from last week and about 10 cents lower than the national average for diesel.

Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $4.77 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.11 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Oklahoma ($3.24), Texas ($3.28), and Missouri ($3.41).

The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.46), California ($5.08), and Washington ($4.47).