(GasBuddy) For the second straight week, the national average has inched ever so slightly higher, rising 0.3 cents from a week ago to $3.41 per gallon Monday, 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 18.8 cents from a month ago and is 14.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 2.4 cents in the last week and stands at $3.76 per gallon— 10 cents lower than one year ago.
“With summer now officially here, we’ve seen the national average price of gasoline holding mostly steady compared to last week, with some states seeing their traditional price cycling every couple of weeks, while others have seen prices slowly slip,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “For now, gasoline prices may see little movement ahead of July 4 as oil prices have risen above $80. But the good news is that instead of the national average jumping to follow the rising price of oil, it’s holding steady. The bummer is that the decreases we hoped for will have to wait, thanks to oil’s climb.”
OIL PRICES
Oil’s recent rally took a slight break on Friday, but resumed in early Monday trading, as oil prices have held above $80 for the past few sessions on last week’s decline in inventories, plus a jump in gasoline demand. Mideast tensions were also adding fuel to the fire, with Israel exchanging gunfire with Hezbollah fighters over the Lebanon border. Data from Baker Hughes also showed a decline in the U.S. rig count, falling to 588 total rigs, a decline of nearly 14%. In early Monday trade, a barrel of WTI crude oil was last up 20 cents to $80.93 per barrel, up from last week’s $78.78 start. Brent crude oil was up 22 cents to $85.46, also up from last week’s $82.94 per barrel start.
OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS
Last week’s report from the EIA showed the reverse trifecta, with oil, gasoline and distillate inventories all declining. Crude oil inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels, while gasoline inventories were down 2.3 million barrels and distillates fell 1.7 million barrels. Domestic crude oil production was unchanged at 13.2 million barrels per day, while the SPR gained 400,000 barrels to 370.9 million, 6% above the year ago level. Implied gasoline demand, a somewhat lumpy “best guess” at retail demand jumped to 9.39 million barrels per day, likely above the real-world figure as stations filled up to get ahead of wholesale price increases. Refinery utilization fell 1.5 percentage points to 93.5% with gasoline production increasing to 10.2 million barrels per day, while distillate fuel production fell to 4.8 million barrels per day. Total oil inventories are up nearly 40 million barrels versus last year.
FUEL DEMAND
According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a rise of 0.8% for the week ending June 22 (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand rose 2.2% in PADD 1, rose 1.1% in PADD 2, fell 2.0% in PADD 3, rose 0.6% in PADD 4, and rose 0.3% in PADD 5. GasBuddy models U.S. gasoline demand at 8.875 million barrels per day.
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 $3.19, $3.39, $3.49, and $3.09 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. gas price is $3.29 per gallon, unchanged from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average.
The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.57 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.85 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.89), Arkansas ($2.90), Oklahoma ($2.93).
The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.75), Hawaii ($4.62), and Washington ($4.26).
DIESEL PRICE TRENDS
The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.69 per gallon, up 20 cents from last week, followed by $3.59, $3.79, $3.49, and $3.39 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. diesel price is $3.67 per gallon, up 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 $4.77 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.18 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Oklahoma ($3.29), Texas ($3.35), and Colorado ($3.39).
The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.47), California ($5.04), and Washington ($4.43).
