Fredericksburg Leader

GAS PRICE CLIMB EXTENDS TO 4TH STRAIGHT WEEK ON RISING OIL PRICES, GLOBAL DEMAND

For the fourth week in a row, the nation’s average gas price has climbed, rising 11.3 cents from a week ago to $3.39 per gallon yesterday 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 30.2 cents from a month ago and 7.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 2.6 cents in the last week and stands at $4.60 per gallon.

“Gasoline prices continued their upward trajectory last week as oil prices pulled them higher across the majority of the country, and continued refinery challenges kept supply of gasoline from rising more substantially,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Macroeconomic factors have continued to weigh on oil and refined products, as strong demand in China hasn’t been slowed much by a surge in new Covid cases. In addition, releases of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve have wrapped up. Concerns are increasing that without additional oil, supply will tighten in the weeks ahead, especially as the nation starts to move away from softer demand in the height of winter. Moving forward, it doesn’t look good for motorists, with prices likely to continue accelerating.”

OIL PRICESOil markets continued their rally over the last week, opening the week in the black, with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil up 47 cents to $82.11 per barrel, a nearly $2 rise from last Monday’s $80.21 per barrel start. Brent crude was also up in early Monday trade by 76 cents to $88.39 per barrel, a nearly $3 rise from last week’s $85.85 per barrel fetch. Along with releases concluding from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, China’s consumption continues to improve as it deviates on Covid, reopening its economy and loosening travel restrictions. In addition, a return to colder than normal weather conditions in areas of the U.S. may inspire a rise in heating oil consumption, and a weakening U.S. dollar is also likely piling in to put more upward pressure on oil.

According to Baker Hughes, last week’s U.S. rig count was down 4 rigs to 771 and was 167 rigs higher than a year ago. The Canadian rig count rose 14 to 241 and was 29 rigs higher than a year ago.

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