April 11, 2010, 3:22 PM EDT
(Updates with comments starting in fourth paragraph.)
By Barbara Powell and Jessica Resnick-Ault
April 11 -- The average price of regular gasoline at U.S. filling stations rose to $2.852 a gallon as crude oil futures jumped more than 5 percent.
Gasoline gained 3.79 cents in the three weeks ended April 9, according to a survey of 5,000 filling stations nationwide by Trilby Lundberg, an independent gasoline analyst in Camarillo, California.
Gasoline for May delivery rose 1.5 percent to $2.2893 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the three weeks ended April 9. Crude oil for May delivery advanced 5.3 percent to $84.92 a barrel.
Crude oil rose 10 cents during the survey period, said Lundberg, although “refiners were able to only pass through a portion at the pump.” Most took “a 9-cent gallon loss because demand is so weak.”
Gasoline demand during the summer will rise 0.5 percent above a year earlier, lower than 2009’s 0.8 percent growth rate because “the stimulus to demand from the continuing modest economic recovery is constrained” by higher prices at the pump, the Energy Department said April 6 in its summer fuels outlook.
Regular-grade gasoline will average $2.92 a gallon in the period between April 1 and Sept. 30, up from $2.44 last summer, the department forecast. Average prices will at times exceed $3 a gallon during the season.
“Gasoline demand is nearly flat because unemployment is so deep,” Lundberg said. Consumption is dominated by fuel used to commute, she said. “That is the bulk of it,” and the need for fuel will not grow significantly until employment grow is more robust. “Until then, price increases will be small,” she said.
Demand and Supply
Demand for the motor fuel, as measured by what’s supplied to the wholesale market, rose to 9.08 million barrels a day in the week ended April 2, according to the department. Averaged over the past four weeks, consumption was 1.7 percent above a year earlier.
Supplies of the motor fuel are 5.5 percent above the five- year average for the period as gasoline output by refiners and blenders jumped to a 16-week high.
U.S. retail gasoline consumption rose 1.2 percent in the week ended April 2 as motorists filled their tanks for the three-day Easter holiday weekend, MasterCard Inc. said in its SpendingPulse report April 6. Demand over the four weeks ended April 2 averaged 9.59 million barrels a day, the highest level since July 3.
Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, is $2.86 a gallon, according to AAA, the biggest U.S. motoring organization. At the same time a year ago, the average was $2.05, according to AAA.
On Long Island, regular gasoline averaged $2.95 a gallon, Lundberg said. Los Angeles-area retail stations averaged $3.06.
The highest price among cities surveyed was Honolulu at $3.43 gallon. The cheapest place to buy gasoline was Newark, New Jersey, where a gallon averaged $2.64, Lundberg said.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-11/u-s-gasoline-rises-to-2-852-a-gallon-survey-shows-update1-.html
(Updates with comments starting in fourth paragraph.)
By Barbara Powell and Jessica Resnick-Ault
April 11 -- The average price of regular gasoline at U.S. filling stations rose to $2.852 a gallon as crude oil futures jumped more than 5 percent.
Gasoline gained 3.79 cents in the three weeks ended April 9, according to a survey of 5,000 filling stations nationwide by Trilby Lundberg, an independent gasoline analyst in Camarillo, California.
Gasoline for May delivery rose 1.5 percent to $2.2893 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the three weeks ended April 9. Crude oil for May delivery advanced 5.3 percent to $84.92 a barrel.
Crude oil rose 10 cents during the survey period, said Lundberg, although “refiners were able to only pass through a portion at the pump.” Most took “a 9-cent gallon loss because demand is so weak.”
Gasoline demand during the summer will rise 0.5 percent above a year earlier, lower than 2009’s 0.8 percent growth rate because “the stimulus to demand from the continuing modest economic recovery is constrained” by higher prices at the pump, the Energy Department said April 6 in its summer fuels outlook.
Regular-grade gasoline will average $2.92 a gallon in the period between April 1 and Sept. 30, up from $2.44 last summer, the department forecast. Average prices will at times exceed $3 a gallon during the season.
“Gasoline demand is nearly flat because unemployment is so deep,” Lundberg said. Consumption is dominated by fuel used to commute, she said. “That is the bulk of it,” and the need for fuel will not grow significantly until employment grow is more robust. “Until then, price increases will be small,” she said.
Demand and Supply
Demand for the motor fuel, as measured by what’s supplied to the wholesale market, rose to 9.08 million barrels a day in the week ended April 2, according to the department. Averaged over the past four weeks, consumption was 1.7 percent above a year earlier.
Supplies of the motor fuel are 5.5 percent above the five- year average for the period as gasoline output by refiners and blenders jumped to a 16-week high.
U.S. retail gasoline consumption rose 1.2 percent in the week ended April 2 as motorists filled their tanks for the three-day Easter holiday weekend, MasterCard Inc. said in its SpendingPulse report April 6. Demand over the four weeks ended April 2 averaged 9.59 million barrels a day, the highest level since July 3.
Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, is $2.86 a gallon, according to AAA, the biggest U.S. motoring organization. At the same time a year ago, the average was $2.05, according to AAA.
On Long Island, regular gasoline averaged $2.95 a gallon, Lundberg said. Los Angeles-area retail stations averaged $3.06.
The highest price among cities surveyed was Honolulu at $3.43 gallon. The cheapest place to buy gasoline was Newark, New Jersey, where a gallon averaged $2.64, Lundberg said.
Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-11/u-s-gasoline-rises-to-2-852-a-gallon-survey-shows-update1-.html
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