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U.S. Gasoline Falls to $2.6979 a Gallon as Crude Declines, Lundberg Says
The average price for regular gasoline at U.S. filling stations fell to $2.6979 a gallon as supplies of the motor fuel increased and crude prices dropped.
Gasoline declined 7.43 cents in the two weeks ended Aug. 27, according to a survey of 2,500 filling stations nationwide by Trilby Lundberg, an independent gasoline analyst in Camarillo, California.
“Gasoline fell more than seven cents over the last two weeks, while crude oil barely budged,” Lundberg said. “The change in gasoline prices was a response to an earlier drop in crude oil. If crude oil doesn’t change appreciably from here, gasoline will either stay put or fall slightly.”
The front-month contract for crude oil fell 0.3 percent in the two weeks ended Aug. 27. Crude oil touched $82.97 a barrel on Aug. 4, the highest level since May 4. Gasoline for September delivery rose 0.4 percent.
Gasoline supplies in the week ended Aug. 20 were the most since March 12, according to the Energy Department. Stockpiles have expanded 3.7 percent since June 18, and are 12 percent above the period’s five-year average, according to the department.
Demand, measured by what refiners and blenders supplied to wholesalers, fell 0.9 percent to 9.38 million barrels a day.
Demand Slips
U.S. gasoline demand at the pump fell 1.2 percent in the week ended Aug. 20 as the summer driving season neared an end, MasterCard Inc. said Aug. 24 in its SpendingPulse report. The driving season traditionally ends on Labor Day, which this year falls on Sept. 6.
Regular gasoline at the pump, averaged nationwide, fell to $2.678 a gallon from $2.682 yesterday, AAA said on its website.
On Long Island, regular gasoline averaged $2.83 a gallon, Lundberg said. Los Angeles-area retail stations averaged $3.03 a gallon.
The highest price was in San Francisco, at $3.13 a gallon. The cheapest place to buy the fuel was St. Louis, where a gallon averaged $2.39, she said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mark Shenk in New York at mshenk1@bloomberg.net; Barbara Powell in Dallas at bpowell4@bloomberg.net.
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