NATIONAL AVERAGE INCHES BACK UP AS OIL RALLIES TO HIGHEST PRICE SINCE SPRING

The nation’s average price of gasoline has climbed 3.4 cents in the last week to $3.53 per gallon, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The national average price of diesel has risen 0.1 cents in the last week and stands at $3.80 per gallon.

“With oil prices rising to $75 per barrel last week, the highest level in months, the national average price of gasoline saw similar upward pressure, with a little over half of the nation’s states seeing gas prices rise last week,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “While the price increases could continue into this week, I would expect them to be fairly mild, with the national average likely staying in the $3.50-$3.60 range that we’ve been stuck in since April for the coming week and likely into next week as well. Economic data has been playing a larger than typical role in putting pressure on gas prices, with OPEC production cuts also a major factor.”

OIL PRICES

Oil markets look to build on three straight weeks of increases, with the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil rallying to its highest level since the spring to close last week. While oil prices rallied on outages from producer Libya, much of the affected production has gotten back online. However, with Saudi Arabia’s extension of its July production cut into August, markets have found some strength in recent days. In early Monday trade, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 96 cents to $74.46 per barrel, just over $1 higher than last Monday’s fetch. Brent crude oil was also seen declining, losing 91 cents to $78.96 after briefly touching the $80 mark last week. It’s still up just over $1 from last Monday’s $77.80 per barrel level. Early reports out of China also indicate a slower-than-expected economy, with GDP up just over 6%, below the expectations of a growth rate of over 7%.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS

Last week’s report from the Energy Information Administration showed a sizable 5.9-million-barrel rise in crude oil inventories, which are up 31 million barrels, excluding the SPR, which fell 0.4 million barrels and stands some 29% below its year-ago level. Gasoline inventories were unchanged, 2.4% lower than a year ago, while distillate inventories surged 4.8 million barrels and stand about 4% above the year-ago level. Implied gasoline demand, a proxy for retail demand, fell 844,000 bpd to 8.76 million, while year-to-date demand is up 1.7%, according to EIA figures. Refinery utilization jumped 2.6 percentage points to 93.7%, pushing gasoline production to 10.1 million barrels per day and distillates to 5.1 million barrels per day. Overall supply is up nearly 6% from a year ago, excluding the SPR, while including the reserve, stocks are down 4% 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 1.6% rise last week (Sun-Sat) as demand bounced higher after the post-holiday period. Weekly demand should rise before plateauing in the next 2-3 weeks. Broken down by PADD region, demand rose 1.4% in PADD 1, rose 1.6% in PADD 2, rose 0.4% in PADD 3, rose 3.8% in PADD 4, and rose 0.4% in PADD 5.

GAS PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.29 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.49, $3.19, $3.39, and $3.09 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. gas price is $3.39 per gallon, unchanged from last week and about 14 cents lower than the national average.
The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.79 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.92 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.99), Tennessee ($3.08), and Alabama ($3.10).
The states with the highest average prices: Washington ($4.88), California ($4.87), and Hawaii ($4.66).

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.69 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.59, $3.49, $3.79, and $3.99 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. diesel price is $3.69 per gallon, unchanged from last week and about 11 cents lower than the national average for diesel.
Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $4.86 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.19 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.32), Oklahoma ($3.44), and Mississippi ($3.44).
The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.63), California ($5.02), and Washington ($4.87).