Retail regular gasoline prices rose by 21.6c in the last four weeks to $3.656/Gal. About 50% 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 1.3 MMBbl/d for the week ending April 14 and are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year
U.S. Gasoline prices fall for the first time in three weeks
U.S. Regular retail gasoline prices fell by 0.7c last week to trade at $3.656/Gal
GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan said that “while the fall was quite small, the bigger news may be that we may have seen a short-term peak in the price of gasoline”
He added that "While it's possible we could go higher later this summer should a major hurricane target sensitive infrastructure, it appears the odds that the national average will miss the $4/Gal mark are rising"
Retail diesel prices fell by 18.1c in the last four weeks to $4.077/Gal. About 41% 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 fell by 0.4 MMBbl/d for the week ending April 14 and are about 11% below the five-year average for this time of year
Global diesel margins have slumped by about half since February, dragging on refiners' profits (WSJ, Reuters)
In Europe, diesel margins have fallen from $21.50/Bbl in February to $13.70/Bbl in April
In Asia, diesel margins have fallen from $25.99/Bbl in February to $14/Bbl in April
These declines are due to a number of factors, including the continued flow of Russian oil to other markets, an unusually mild winter in Europe that led to a build-up in inventories, and falling demand for gasoil to replace natural gas in power generation
Additionally, Goldman Sachs notes declining refining margins towards historical norms in the coming months in a client note last week
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