- Retail regular gasoline prices fell by 55.1c in the last four weeks to $3.120/Gal. About 54% of the change was due to the price of crude oil, while the remainder was the refinery margin
- Scroll down for a chart of the RBOB-WTI crack spread, a measure of refinery margin. It shows elevated cracks this year
- Total motor gasoline inventories rose by 4.5 MMBbl/d for the week ending December 9 and are about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year
- Regular retail gasoline prices plunge to the lowest since July 2021
- After reaching an all-time high of $5.02/gal in June amid high inflation and the Russia-Ukraine war, prices have been steadily falling since mid-November when a gallon cost $3.80
- A variety of factors, including soft demand, recession fears, rebounding supply, and the drop in crude prices, could have driven the plunge in gasoline prices
- Gas demand decreased slightly from 8.36 MMBbl/d to 8.26 MMBbl/d over the past week, according to the EIA
- The drop in demand is typical this time of year as fewer drivers hit the roads due to “shorter days and more lousy weather,” according to AAA
- Very high refinery utilization rates might have also helped to bring gasoline prices down as U.S. refineries came back online from an extensive maintenance period in September and October
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- Retail diesel prices fell by 71.1c in the last four weeks to $4.596/Gal. About 40% of the change was due to the price of crude oil, while the remainder was the refinery margin
- Scroll down for a chart of the NY Harbor ULSD-WTI crack spread, a measure of refinery margin. It shows elevated cracks this year
- Distillate fuel inventories rose by 1.4 MMBbl/d for the week ending December 9 and are about 8% below the five-year average for this time of year
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