Gasoline prices in the US rose for the second week in a row

Average U.S. national pump prices are now up for a second week in a row, up 1.4 cents from a week ago, GasBuddy reported Monday, noting a “mixed bag” at gas pumps, with some states seeing increases and others decreases.

Refinery maintenance and “obstacles” caused some delays in reducing prices in some states, while just over half of US states saw prices drop, GasBuddy noted.

“GasBuddy data shows 18 states with average gas prices below $3 per gallon, a number that should certainly increase over the next few weeks,” said Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis.

The national average gasoline price in the United States on Monday was $3.17 a gallon, up 1.4 cents from a week ago, but down 15.4 cents from a month ago and 63 .8 cents from a year ago. The national average diesel price fell 1.2 cents in the past week to $3.54 per gallon.

“While Hurricane Helene left feet of rain behind and some states are experiencing challenges getting gasoline to stations, the storm did not have an overall impact on fuel production,” De Haan wrote. “For now, with oil prices back below $70 a barrel, the national average may be a bit stuck in the $3s until fall maintenance ends, which could help a national average below $3 later in this fall.”

Meanwhile, crude oil prices continue to struggle for gains amid rumors that Saudi Arabia is preparing to restore oil production to regain lost market share and balance the budget. This is balanced only somewhat (and intermittently) by more upbeat economic news coming out of China.

Despite these Saudi rumours, OPEC+ sources confirmed to the Argus last week that there is no specific price target for crude, including the oft-discussed $100 a barrel.

Despite the geopolitical risk premiumOil prices will remain under pressure, weighed down by slower-than-expected demand and uncertainty over OPEC+’s withdrawal of production cuts, according to analysts in Reuters monthly survey who cut their price forecasts for the fifth consecutive month.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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