Gas prices low. Refinery shutdown keeps them from dropping lower

Had a weird dream lately? How about this: You’re at the gas station, and the pump hose is stretched tight between the pump and your RV. And you’re doing the limbo under the hose. Maybe the dream is a stretch, but it’s summer—gas prices should be going higher, shouldn’t they? Gas prices are low, and fuel watcher GasBuddy says they could go still lower.

Gas prices low—25 cents less than last year

The nation’s average price of gasoline has inched 0.7 cents higher compared to a week ago to $3.47 per gallon Monday, July 29. The outfit compiled data from more than 12 million individual price reports covering more than 150,000 gas stations across the country. What does it show?

The national average is down 0.8 cents from a month ago and is 25.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 1.2 cents in the last week and stands at $3.78 per gallon—19 cents lower than a year ago.

“We continue to see a mixed bag when it comes to gas prices across the country: states in the Great Lakes region are still being jolted by the Joliet, IL, refinery outage, which has also impacted gas prices in some areas of Canada, while areas like the West Coast continue to see notable declines,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“With the summer winding down and GasBuddy data showing disappointing gasoline demand and struggling oil prices, we could eventually see the national average falling a bit more, especially once the refinery in Illinois restarts operations. While hurricane season hasn’t been a factor yet, it’s also just starting to get into its prime, and that does remain a quiet wildcard for now,” De Haan concluded.

Are you pumping gas in the Midwest? Relief could be coming once that refinery gets back in gear. The rest of the country is already basking in the unusually low fuel prices.

Oil supplies show low demand

Last week’s report from the Energy Information Agency showed a 3.7 million barrel decline in crude oil inventories, which stand some 20 million barrels below a year ago, while the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rose 700,000 barrels to nearly 375 million—almost 8% higher than a year ago. Domestic crude production was unchanged at 13.3 million barrels per day.

Gasoline inventories plummeted some 5.6 million barrels, but remain about 10 million barrels above a year ago. Distillate inventories fell 2.8 million barrels but also remain up a bit over 7 million barrels compared to a year ago. Refinery utilization also fell 2.1 percentage points to 91.6%.

Gas prices

The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.39 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.29, $3.49, $3.19, and $3.59 rounding out the top five most common prices.

The median U.S. gas price is $3.39 per gallon, unchanged from last week and about 8 cents lower than the national average.

The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.49 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.92 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.92), Louisiana ($2.96), and Tennessee ($3.03).

The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.58), Hawaii ($4.56), and Washington ($4.15).

Biggest weekly changes: Ohio (+9.2¢), Michigan (+8.3¢), Illinois (+6.6¢), Indiana (-6.5¢), Texas (+6.3¢)

Diesel prices

The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.79 per gallon, down 20 cents from last week, followed by $3.99, $3.69, $3.49, and $3.89 rounding out the top five most common prices.

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