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Mar 26, 2018 | Fuel
With the arrival for spring, gas prices immediately became more expensive nationwide. The national gas price average is $2.61, which is a nickel more expensive on the week. Six states are seeing double-digit increases: Idaho (+16 cents), Utah (+14 cents), Delaware (+13 cents), New Mexico (+12 cents), South Carolina (+10 cents) and Maryland (+10 cents). As prices soar, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that demand dropped to 9.3 million b/d as gasoline stocks dipped (1.7 million b/d) on the week.
“Right now we are seeing the market starting to purge winter-blend gasoline to make room for summer-blend,” said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. “The jump in gas prices is just the beginning for the season. AAA forecasts the national gas price average will be as much as $2.70/gallon this spring and summer.”
Locally, South Jersey motorists saw prices jump 9 cents per gallon on average in the past week, from $2.48 last week to today’s price of $2.57 per gallon. Today’s price is 4 cents more per gallon than last month, and is 34 cents per gallon more than this time last year.
Today’s national gas price average ($2.61) is nine cents more than a month ago and 33 cents more expensive than this time last year.
Quick Stats
In the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region, all states are paying more on the week with motorists in Delaware (+13 cents) and Maryland (+10 cents) seeing double-digit increases at the pump. Washington, D.C. ($2.80), Pennsylvania ($2.80) and New York ($2.73) tout the most expensive prices in the region and could trend closer to the $3/gallon mark this spring.
Paying nearly 40-cents more, four states in the region land on the top 10 list with the biggest changes year-over-year: Tennessee (+37 cents), Delaware (+37 cents), Vermont (+36 cents) and Maryland (+36 cents).
Gasoline inventories increased by a small 206,000 bbl on the week, but still sit at 59.7 million bbl. This is the first year since 2014 that March inventories sit below 60 million bbl. Year-over-year, inventories are at an 8.5 million bbl deficit in the region, according to EIA data.
Oil market dynamics
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, WTI increased $1.58 to settle at $65.88. The futures market for crude oil rallied last week after EIA's report revealed crude inventories fell for the third consecutive week. Crude oil inventories dropped 2.6 million barrels from the previous week, and storage levels across the country now total 428.3 million barrels. When compared to last March, current domestic crude inventories are 104.8 million barrels lower. This year-over-year change could be attributed to higher than usual gasoline demand in the U.S. for this time of the year, which has also coincided with growing crude and gasoline exports from the U.S.
The lowering crude data also signaled that OPEC’s production reduction agreement with other large producers, including Russia, is helping to drain global crude supplies and lift the price per barrel. The reduction agreement will be in effect through the end of 2018, and it may extend into 2019. Last week in an interview, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that OPEC would need to continue coordinating with non-OPEC countries in the agreement on what measures to take to curb global crude supplies in 2019. This news contributed to the WTI rally that occurred at the end of last week. The supply reduction agreement, which has been in place since January 2017, has helped participating countries remove 1.8 million b/d from global crude supplies. While the agreement has been in place there has been a reduction in the global supply in crude — which has also helped to lift the price. An extension of the current agreement will likely push prices up and supplies down further.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude production continues to boom. According to EIA’s data last week, production in the U.S. hit another record high of 10.41 million b/d. As another sign of expanded crude production growth in the U.S., Baker Hughes reported that the U.S. gained four active oil rigs last week, bringing the total to 804. The total is 152 more rigs than last year at this time.
Motorists can find current gas prices along their route with the free AAA Mobile app for iPhone, iPad and Android. The app can also be used to map a route, find discounts, book a hotel and access AAA roadside assistance. Learn more at AAA.com/mobile.