Gasoline prices at the pump have been creeping higher in the last few days.
On Thursday, the average price per gallon for regular gasoline stood at $3.474, up about 5 cents from a week ago, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Prices are also 64 cents a gallon higher than a year ago, AAA data showed.
Regular retail gasoline prices had been falling for weeks, with a weekly price of $3.417 as of Oct. 10, the lowest weekly level since Feb. 28, according to data from U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“The average was declining on easing demand following the summer, with summer demand weak too,” said Brian Milne, refined fuels editor at Telvent DTN.
“A major factor in the oil market’s volatility has been worry that the U.S. was going to slip into recession, along with concerns over the impact of the euro zone’s ongoing debt crisis,” he said.
“After sinking at the start of the month on these worries, we did see a sharp rally on expectations [European Union] leaders would find a solution to their debt crisis, and thoughts of a double dip U.S. recession has been easing. So, gasoline prices found upside support here.”
The EIA’s weekly regular retail price climbed to $3.476 on Oct. 17. But with so many factors at play in the gasoline market, don’t expect prices to settle down any time soon.
“We’re also in the refinery turnaround season, and supply has fallen. Another factor has been refining maintenance in Europe, with imports down sharply,” said Milne, adding that on Wednesday, EIA data showed that gasoline supply was drawn down sharply last week, but implied gasoline demand tumbled to an eight-month low. The supply data news sent gasoline futures RB1X down 2.7% Wednesday.
“We will continue to see wild price swings for the remainder of the year,” said Milne.
At least consumers can find some relief in the fact that prices stayed put on Thursday, according to AAA, and are no where near their mid-July 2008 record level of $4.11 – yet.
