Because of this, gas prices are likely to spike again, according to GasBuddy

(GasBuddy) For the second straight week, the nation’s average gas price is down, falling 7.3 cents from the previous week to $3.37 a gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports were compiled, covering over 150,000 service stations across the country. The national average is 10.9 cents higher than a month ago and 10.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national median diesel price has fallen 7.3 cents over the past week to $4.52 a gallon.

“For the second straight week, the national average price of gasoline has fallen, along with the price of diesel, which has fallen to its lowest level in almost a year,” said Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis. “While diesel prices are likely to fall for a long time to come as inventories continue to improve, petrol prices have risen in some areas in recent weeks as the transition to summer petrol is imminent. Additionally, GasBuddy data shows that gasoline demand has risen for the third straight week, a trend likely to continue as we see gradually rising temperatures and the heart of winter shifting to the rear. Also, the refinery maintenance season will soon be in full swing, which is likely to put upward pressure on prices. On average, between March and Memorial Day, gasoline prices will rise between 35 and 85 cents a gallon, so motorists who see prices falling should enjoy the falls while they last.”

OIL PRICES

Crude oil prices rallied last week as Russia announced a surprise production cut of 500,000 barrels a day in retaliation for EU sanctions, sending prices higher again. In early Monday trading, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude was down 64 cents but at $79.08 a barrel, up about $5 a barrel from last Monday’s $73.94 a barrel. Brent crude also posted weekly gains but losses earlier in the week, which fell 68 cents in early trade to $85.71 a barrel, also nearly $5 a barrel higher than last Monday morning. While the news out of Russia came as a surprise, oil prices have remained range bound for several months, limiting the strength of any rally so far to the mid-$80s for WTI and the top-$80s for Brent. Government data on trading volume continues to be delayed, making reading market volume a challenge for now.

According to Baker Hughes, the number of US rigs increased by 2 rigs last week to 761, but was up 126 rigs from a year ago. The Canadian rig count increased by 1 to 250, up 31 rigs from a year ago.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS

Last week’s Energy Information Administration report showed another weekly rise in major inventories, including oil, gasoline and distillates, along with a surge in domestic oil production to a new Covid-era high of 12.3 million barrels. Crude inventories rose 2.4 million barrels while the SPR was flat again. Gasoline inventories posted a more robust 5.0 million barrel increase, while distillate inventories rose 2.9 million barrels. Implied gasoline demand, a proxy for retail gasoline demand, declined slightly to 8.43 million barrels per day, while refinery utilization rose 2.2 percentage points to 87.9%. Total petroleum inventories are up 5.8% year-on-year excluding the SPR but are down nearly 148 million barrels year-on-year including SPR releases.

FUEL REQUIREMENTS

According to GasBuddy demand data, powered by the Pay with GasBuddy fuel card, US retail gasoline demand rose 1.7% last week (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand increased by 0.6% in PADD 1, decreased by 1.7% in PADD 2, increased by 16.2% in PADD 3, decreased by 1.5% in PADD 4 and increased in PADD 5 by 1.5%.

GAS PRICE DEVELOPMENT

The most common US gasoline price motorists encounter was $3.29 a gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.19, $3.39, $3.09 and $2.99, respectively rounds down the five most common prices.

The average US gas price is $3.27 a gallon, down 8 cents from last week and about 10 cents below the national average.

The top 10% of gas stations in the country average $4.39 per gallon, while the bottom 10% use an average of $2.86 per gallon.

The states with the lowest average prices: Texas ($2.95), Oklahoma ($3.00) and Mississippi ($3.03).

The states with the highest average prices: Hawaii ($4.82), California ($4.56) and Washington ($4.01).