National Average Inches Up on Great Lakes Refinery Outage, Most Others See Relief

The nation’s average price of gasoline has inched 0.7 cents higher compared to a week ago to $3.47 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 0.8 cents from a month ago and is 25.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 1.2 cents in the last week and stands at $3.78 per gallon—19 cents lower than a year ago.

“We continue to see a mixed bag when it comes to gas prices across the country: states in the Great Lakes region are still being jolted by the Joliet, IL refinery outage, which has also impacted gas prices in some areas of Canada, while areas like the West Coast continue to see notable declines,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “With the summer winding down and GasBuddy data showing disappointing gasoline demand and struggling oil prices, we could eventually see the national average falling a bit more, especially once the refinery in Illinois restarts operations. While hurricane season hasn’t been a factor yet, it’s also just starting to get into its prime, and that does remain a quiet wildcard for now.”

OIL MARKETS

Oil prices have continued to struggle as of late, as the concerns over China’s economy continue to reverberate and markets shrug off the latest developments between Israel and Hezbollah. In early Monday trade, a barrel of WTI crude oil was down 28 cents to $76.88 per barrel, nearly $3 lower than last Monday’s $79.62 per barrel level. Brent crude oil was also down in early trading and was last seen off 34 cents to $80.79 per barrel, nearly $3 lower than last Monday’s $82.08 per barrel start. Market participants expect China’s factory activity to have dropped for a third month in July according to a poll taken by Reuters, with the broader China economy growing at much slower-than-expected rates in the second quarter, limiting oil consumption during a peak time of year.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS

Last week’s report from the EIA showed a 3.7 million barrel decline in crude oil inventories, which stand some 20 million below a year ago, while the SPR rose 700,000 barrels to nearly 375 million—almost 8% higher than a year ago. Domestic crude production was unchanged at 13.3 million barrels per day. Gasoline inventories plummeted some 5.6 million barrels, but remain about 10 million barrels above a year ago. Distillate inventories fell 2.8 million barrels but also remain up a bit over 7 million barrels compared to a year ago. Refinery utilization also fell 2.1 percentage points to 91.6%.

FUEL DEMAND

According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 0.6% for the week ending July 27 (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand rose 1.5% in PADD 1, rose 1.1% in PADD 2, fell 3.4% in PADD 3, rose 0.1% in PADD 4, and rose 1.3% in PADD 5. GasBuddy models U.S. gasoline demand at 8.91 million barrels per day.

GAS PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.39 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.29, $3.49, $3.19, and $3.59 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 8 cents lower than the national average.

The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.49 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.92 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.92), Louisiana ($2.96), Tennessee ($3.03).

The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.58), Hawaii ($4.56), and Washington ($4.15).

Biggest weekly changes: Ohio (+9.2c), Michigan (+8.3c), Illinois (+6.6c), Indiana (-6.5c), Texas (+6.3c)

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.79 per gallon, down 20 cents from last week, followed by $3.99, $3.69, $3.49, and $3.89 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. diesel price is $3.69 per gallon, down 8 cents from last week and about 9 cents lower than the national average for diesel.

Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $4.68 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.18 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.33), Oklahoma ($3.33), and Louisiana ($3.42).

The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.42), California ($4.97), and Washington ($4.44).