U.S. Gasoline Demand, Prices Still Rising

Average U.S. retail gasoline prices have risen due to the demand for the second week in a row. It is now 8.2 cents above the week ago price. This is waht  Gas Buddy said in a note on Monday, citing refinery outages.

While gasoline prices are now $3.25 per gallon as of Sunday and above last week’s averages, according to Gas Buddy data, prices are relatively flat on the month.

“Last week, the rise in gasoline prices continued, still due to previous refinery outages caused by the cold weather the week of Christmas. However, I’m optimistic that as refiners get back online, we could see the increases slow down as we head into the time of year when gasoline demand is at its weakest,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a note. “While gasoline prices have rallied, average diesel prices continue to drift lower, which certainly bodes well for the overall economy. As long as refiners are able to get back online soon from previous cold-weather outages, we could see supply start to recover at the same time demand is weak, which could bring gas prices down again. The window of opportunity, however, is shrinking, and by late February or early March, we’ll likely kick off the seasonal rise in gasoline prices.”

Click here to read the full article

Source: Oil Price

If you have further questions about the topic of U.S. gasoline demand, feel free to contact us here.