Fuels

"Perfect" Gasoline Price

Gasoline glut, weak dollar makes for "perfect" gasoline price
CAMARILLO, Calif. -- The U.S. average retail price of regular grade gasoline is $2.6353 per gallon, according to the most recentLundberg Surveyof approximately 5,000 U.S. gas station. It is 1.24 cents per gallon lower than two weeks ago, but 88.27 cents higher than a year ago thanks to last year's superlative price crash.

The gasoline glut rages on, despite refiners having to idle a fifth of their capacity, thanks largely to U.S. unemployment. Crude oil prices, slipping very slightly over the two weeks, are still [image-nocss] being propped up to a degree by the weak U.S. dollar. Ethanol prices have been surging.

Unless crude should take a dramatic turn up or down, comparative price stability is in store for the average street price. If it moves, down is the more likely directionbecause the diminished number of employed motorists now meets with the seasonality of gasoline demand, with December demand suppressed by holidays, inclement weather and shorter daylight hours.

Word from Saudi Arabia is that the oil price is "perfect" (click here for more). If that is true, then so is the U.S. street price of about $2.64, stuck between crude and ethanol on the upside, and the gasoline glut on the downside.

Cheyenne, Wyo., had the lowest price per gallon in the United States at $2.38, according to the survey, and Anchorage, Alaska, was the highest at $3.28 per gallon.

Click herefor previous Lundberg Survey reports in CSP Daily News.

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