Summer gas prices are forecast to average $2.40
TAMPA, Fla. — The national average for gas prices was $2.37 this Memorial Day. Monday’s average was 5 cents more than last year’s holiday, but 38 cents less than the price on Memorial Day 2015, according to AAA, whose data is collected from credit card swipes and direct feeds from 120,000 gas stations nationwide, in cooperation with OPIS and Wright Express.
“Oil prices declined last week, allowing gas prices to stabilize in time for one of the most-traveled Memorial Day holidays in 12 years,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group. “This summer, gas prices should stay within 10-20 cents of their current levels. However, retail prices could surge if there are unexpected refinery outages or if a hurricane impacts supply and demand.”
The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline will average $2.40 this summer, according to the EIA.
The national average is forecast to average $2.40 this summer, according to the EIA.
Fuel Fundamentals
(Based on weekly data provided by the EIA)
Crude oil prices averaged $50.46 last week, $1.21 more than the week before
U.S. crude inventories declined again last week by 4.4 million barrels or 0.86 percent
Domestic crude production grew by 15,000 barrels or 0.16% to 9.3 million barrels per day; 553,000 more than a year ago.
Refineries ran at an 96.1% utilization, which is 0.4 percentage points lower than the week before, but still exceptionally high.
Wholesale gasoline futures prices slipped only a couple pennies on the week
Domestic gasoline production rose 2.23% from the week before. Gulf Coast gasoline production rose 0.91%, coming in 3% higher than a year ago.
Gasoline supply slid by 0.33% domestically. Gulf Coast supplies are slightly lower by 0.25%. Current supply levels are 2.71% below year-ago levels, but 4.17% above two years ago
Gasoline demand saw strong growth of 2.7%, beating the year-ago level by almost 2%. However, the four-week average for demand remains nearly 2% less than last year.
Gas Price Survey Methodology
AAA updates fuel price averages daily at http://www.GasPrices.AAA.com. Every day up to 120,000 stations are surveyed based on credit card swipes and direct feeds in cooperation with the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) and Wright Express for unmatched statistical reliability. All average retail prices in this report are for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline.
