Released: December 29, 2011
Next Release: January 5, 2012

Happy New Year

From the many contributing authors, support staff, and others in the EIA who make "This Week In Petroleum" possible, best wishes for a safe and happy new year.

Gasoline prices turn upward while diesel prices continue to drop
The U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline rose almost three cents last week to reach $3.26 per gallon. The average price is nearly $0.21 per gallon higher than last year at this time. The Midwest region led the way, with the retail price climbing more than 8 cents per gallon compared with last week. Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain region saw the largest decline, dropping nearly seven cents per gallon last week. The West Coast average price registered an increase of about one cent per gallon; however, the price in the region remained the highest in the country at $3.50 per gallon. The Gulf Coast region average price increased one and a half cents per gallon, and continued to be the lowest regional average price at $3.06 per gallon. Rounding out the regions, gasoline sold for an average of $3.27 cents per gallon on the East Coast, relatively unchanged from the previous week.

The national average diesel price fell for the fifth straight week, dropping almost four cents to hit $3.79 per gallon. The diesel price is $0.50 per gallon higher than last year at this time. In the last five weeks, the average U.S. retail diesel price dropped by 22 cents per gallon. Last week, diesel prices were down across all the regions, with the largest decrease occurring in the Midwest, where the diesel price fell about six cents below last week's average. The Midwest region now has the lowest average regional price at just under $3.71 per gallon. The Rocky Mountain average diesel price fell more than five cents per gallon. The Gulf Coast average price fell about two cents per gallon and is the second lowest average regional price at $3.71 per gallon, barely above the Midwest average price. The West Coast average price declined just over one cent per gallon; however, the price in the region remained the highest in the country at $3.98 per gallon. The East Coast average retail diesel price was $3.84 per gallon, a decline of about three cents per gallon from the previous week.

U.S. average residential heating oil price shows upward turn
Residential heating oil prices increased during the week ending December 26, 2011. The average residential heating oil price rose by $0.01 per gallon last week to reach $3.83 per gallon, $0.52 per gallon higher than the same time last year. The wholesale heating oil price increased by $0.09 per gallon last week to $2.97 per gallon, $0.33 per gallon more than last year at this time.

The average residential propane price increased by less than $0.01 per gallon, holding steady at $2.86 per gallon, which is $0.15 per gallon higher than last year. The average wholesale propane price increased by almost $0.02 per gallon to $1.35 per gallon. This was a decrease of $0.07 per gallon when compared with the December 27, 2010 price of $1.42 per gallon.

Propane stocks slide lower
Last week, total U.S. inventories of propane fell for the fourth week in a row, dropping 0.7 million barrels to end at 56.2 million barrels. Midwest regional inventories showed the largest stock draw, where inventories fell by over 0.7 million barrels. The East Coast regional stocks drew 0.3 million barrels while the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain/West Coast regional stocks added 0.1 and 0.2 million barrels respectively. Propylene non-fuel use inventories represented 9.4 percent of total propane inventories.

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