U.S. Gasoline Just Waiting For The Next Price Hike Catalyst

The average price for a gallon of retail gasoline in the United States has risen roughly $0.20 per gallon over the last 30 days, according to the latest GasBuddy data. And according to a AAA spokeperson Andrew Gross, oil market disruptors are “always lurking”—and the price of gasoline could be sent even higher.

U.S. gasoline prices were averaging $3.662 per gallon heading into the weekend—up from $3.645 the day before.

“Something could be happening elsewhere around the world, and it could make the price really go up or down,” Andrew Gross told Fox News Digital. “Whether its fears of an economic slowdown that pushes the price down, or warfare or tensions, or things of that nature, that can cause the prices to go up. And also watch hurricane season. That’s always lurking.”

Gasoline prices are following the broader trend of higher crude oil prices, after OPEC+ announced it would cut another 1.6 million barrels per day off its production quotas.

U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 300,000 barrels, according to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, to a total of 222.2 million barrels. This is 4.7% down compared to a year ago, and 7% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Meanwhile, gasoline supplied to the market (implied demand) clocked in at 8.94 million bpd for the week—a figure that is 360,000 bpd lower than the week prior. So far this year, however, implied gasoline demand is higher than the same time last year.

The tables have turned. Wholesale gasoline prices are now above diesel prices, ending diesel’s year-long+ price boost that it received courtesy of all the trucking demand during the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal said on Friday.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

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