By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com | U.S. average gasoline prices fell week over week on Friday, at $3.42 per gallon—the cheapest Friday since March, according to Gas Buddy’s Patrick De Haan. Oil ends choppy week.
Gasoline prices in the United States are 2.2 cents per gallon lower this Friday than last, De Haan said in a Friday tweet, adding that U.S. gasoline prices could fall even further over the weekend.
The news follows the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Wednesday Weekly Petroleum Status Report, which showed a decrease in gasoline inventories in the United States to 222.2 million barrels. It was a fall of 2.9 million barrels for the week, although inventories are still 2.8% higher than a week ago, the EIA report showed, but 3% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Refinery utilization was up 1 percentage point to 91.5% for the week, with production falling to 9.7 million bpd. While utilization was up overall in the United States on the week, it fell in the East Coast and Midwest regions.
According to AAA, the price of a regular gallon of gasoline averaged $3.433 per gallon on Friday, down from $3.454 a week ago and $3.873 a year ago. Prices averaged $4.603 per gallon in pricey California and $2.965 per gallon in Mississippi.
It’s unclear whether the falling prices are part of the season trend that sees relief at the pump as we exit driving season.
“Summer is wrapping up soon, and so far, gas prices have barely wobbled,” Andrew Gross, AAA Spokesperson, said earlier this week. “But we still have a long way to go with hurricane season, so it’s too soon to declare that pump prices have started on their usual Autumn swoon.”
Oil Ends Choppy Week Posting Marginal Loss
by Bloomberg|Mia Gindis and Alex Longley| Oil posted a marginal weekly decline, with traders continuing to weigh the impact of a slowdown in China against a possible attack by Iran or proxies on Israel.
West Texas Intermediate settled below $77 a barrel after rising earlier in the week. Oil prices have been choppy in the depths of summer trading, roiled by the tumult in wider markets, bumper swings in algorithmic positioning and geopolitical risk in the Middle East. The White House said on Friday that talks about a potential Gaza cease-fire agreement have been “serious and constructive,” while government data showed that new-home construction in the US sank to a low level during the pandemic era.
This week, while robust retail sales and jobs data from the US — the world’s biggest oil consumer — painted a brighter outlook, figures from top importer China including slowing fixed-asset investment and industrial activity were less positive. At the same time, the US Energy Information Administration reported an increase in the nation’s crude stockpiles on Thursday. That’s at the top of traders’ minds, with commodity trading advisers or CTAs accelerating downward momentum.
“Large-scale CTA selling activity is hitting the tapes in crude oil markets,” said Daniel Ghali, a commodity strategist at TD Securities, in a note to clients. “We expect CTAs to shed their entire position long in Brent crude this session and build a net short position, with additional scope to sell WTI crude over the coming week in a downtape scenario for prices.”
As a result, the global benchmark is now back below $80 a barrel. Hedge funds boosted long positions on Brent after turning the least bullish on record a week earlier. Traders had been pricing bigger premiums for bullish calls in options markets as tensions remain high in the Middle East, but some of that move has also faded in recent days. Disruptions to supply in Libya have also so far done little to support futures prices.
Prices:
- WTI for September delivery declined 1.9% to settle at $76.65 a barrel in New York.
- Brent’s settlement price for October fell by 1.7%, settling at $79.68 a barrel.
