Fredericksburg Leader

GasBuddy issued the following announcement on Feb. 14

For the seventh straight week, the nation’s average gas price has climbed, rising 4.6 cents from a week ago and stands at $3.47 per gallon today 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 is up 16.5 cents from a month ago and 97.2 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 8.9 cents in the last week and stands at $3.87 per gallon, the highest since July 2014.

“The jump in gasoline prices has continued unabated as oil prices continue to push higher, reaching $94 per barrel last week on continued concern over the possible imminent threat that Russia may invade Ukraine,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Not only are oil prices up, but the bulk of the nation is starting the multi-month transition to summer gasoline, further adding to the rise at the pump. In addition, cold weather in Texas last week caused some power outages at major refineries, further weighing on markets. I see no other potentials in the short term but additional price increases unless Russia does an about-face on Ukraine. Even then, we’ll still see seasonality push prices up, so motorists should be ready to dig deeper.”

OIL PRICES

The price of a barrel of crude oil has bounced around in the low $90s in the last week, trading as high as $94.94 per barrel for WTI last night, falling to $92.45 per barrel this morning, not too far from last Monday’s $91.33 per barrel start to the week for WTI. Brent crude oil was at $93.77 in early Monday trade, a slight gain from last Monday’s $92.72 print. The Russia situation continues to drive markets, which spiked late last week by $3 per barrel after the U.S. suggested that Russia could invade Ukraine at any time, leading to the brief spike in prices. As global Covid cases continue to fall, oil prices have rallied on Russia and the impact from higher demand, as winter in North America will soon start to loosen its grip, eventually leading more motorists to get out as temperatures warm. OPEC+ meanwhile, is starting to see a critical lack of spare capacity, as evidenced by production numbers that don’t match lofty quotas. U.S. oil production meanwhile, has stalled in the mid-11 million barrel range per day.

According to Baker Hughes, last week’s U.S. rig count was up 22 rigs to 635, and was 238 rigs higher than a year ago. The Canadian rig count was up by 1 to 219, or 43 more than a year ago.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCT INVENTORIES

According to the Energy Information Administration, oil inventories fell nearly 5 million barrels last week to 11% below the five year average for this time of year, while the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or SPR, fell 1.4 million barrels to 8% below year ago levels. Gasoline inventories fell 1.6 million barrels as refiners started the purge of winter gasoline ahead of EPA-mandated deadlines, while distillate inventories fell nearly a million barrels to 19% below the five year average for this time of year. Implied gasoline demand, a proxy for retail gasoline demand, jumped 900,000 barrels per day to 9.13 million, likely an overstatement as stations bought cargoes after winter storms sent motorists to fill up, leaving station tanks on the low side.

FUEL DEMAND

According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy card, U.S. retail gasoline demand rose last week as stations refueled after major winter storms boosted demand (Sun-Sat). Nationally, weekly gasoline demand rose 6.4% from the prior week, while demand rose 4.7% in PADD 1, rose 7.0% in PADD 2, rose 11.0% in PADD 3, rose 2.1% in PADD 4, and rose 2.4% in PADD 5.

GAS PRICE TRENDS

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.29 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.19, $3.39, $3.49, and $3.09 rounding out the five most common prices.

The average cost at the priciest 10% of stations stands at $4.40 per gallon, up 1 cent from a week ago, while the lowest 10% average $3.04 per gallon, up 6 cents from a week ago.

The median U.S. price is $3.35 per gallon, up 6 cents from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average.

The states with the lowest average prices: Oklahoma ($3.11), Mississippi ($3.13), and Texas ($3.13).

The states with the highest prices: California ($4.68), Hawaii ($4.44), and Washington ($3.93).

Original source can be found here.