The average price of regular gasoline at U.S. filling stations declined to $2.67 a gallon as gasoline futures plunged and demand weakened, Bloomberg reported.
Gasoline lost 5.8 cents in the two weeks ended Feb. 5, according to a survey ending on the same day of 5,000 filling stations nationwide by Trilby Lundberg, an independent gasoline analyst in Camarillo, California.
“There’s a glut of supply and demand hasn’t really begun to recover from the economic downturn,” Lundberg was quoted as saying. “We could see gasoline prices continue to decline with crude.”
Gasoline for March delivery fell 4.4% to $1.8864 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the two weeks ended Feb. 5. Futures have lost 12% in four weeks.
Gasoline supplies fell in the week ended Jan. 29 as refiners reduced the amount of crude and other feedstocks they processed to the lowest level for this time of year since 1995. Demand fell for the fourth time in five weeks to 8.61 million barrels a day. Refiners operated at 77.7% of capacity, the lowest rate since at least 1989, (excluding two hurricane strikes along the Gulf of Mexico).
Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, was $2.664 a gallon as of Feb. 4, according to AAA, the biggest U.S. motoring organization.
On Long Island, regular gasoline averaged $2.87 a gallon, Lundberg told Bloomberg. Los Angeles-area retail stations averaged $2.95.
The highest price among cities surveyed was Honolulu at $3.33 a gallon. The cheapest place to buy gasoline was Cheyenne, Wyoming, where a gallon averaged $2.38.
The Kalamazoo Gazette reported that it’s only taken five days for southwest Michigan gas prices to retreat to what they were after posting a double-digit increase this past Wednesday. Many stations are now below that high of $2.65.9. The lowest price in southwest Michigan, $2.55.9, is now found at five stations, according to www.gasbuddy.com
