Release date: December 27, 2019 | Next release date: January 3, 2020
Happy Holidays
On behalf of the authors, support staff, and the many others at EIA who make This Week in Petroleum possible, best wishes for a safe and happy new year.
Accompanying charts and tables have been updated to reflect data from the latest Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending December 20, 2019.
U.S. average regular gasoline and diesel prices fall slightly
The U.S. average regular gasoline retail price fell less than 1 cent from the previous week to $2.53 per gallon on December 23, 21 cents higher than the same time last year. The West Coast price declined by nearly 5 cents to $3.23 per gallon, the Rocky Mountain price fell 4 cents to $2.69 per gallon, and the Gulf Coast price fell by more than 1 cent to $2.22 per gallon. The Midwest price rose over 1 cent to $2.40 per gallon, and the East Coast increased by nearly 1 cent, remaining at $2.46 per gallon.
The U.S. average diesel fuel price fell nearly 1 cent from the previous week, declining to $3.04 per gallon on December 23, 4 cents lower than a year ago. The Rocky Mountain price fell by more than 3 cents to $3.13 per gallon, the West Coast price fell more than 2 cents to $3.59 per gallon, and the East Coast and Midwest prices fell by less than 1 cent, remaining at $3.05 per gallon and $2.97 per gallon, respectively. The Gulf Coast price remained unchanged at $2.76 per gallon.
Propane/propylene inventories decline
U.S. propane/propylene stocks decreased by 2.6 million barrels last week to 88.4 million barrels as of December 20, 2019, 6.6 million barrels (8.1%) greater than the five-year (2014-18) average inventory levels for this same time of year. Gulf Coast, Rocky Mountain/West Coast, East Coast, and Midwest inventories decreased by 2.1 million barrels, 0.2 million barrels, 0.2 million barrels, and 0.1 million barrels, respectively. Propylene non-fuel-use inventories represented 6.5% of total propane/propylene inventories.
Residential heating fuel prices increase
As of December 23, 2019, residential heating oil prices averaged nearly $3.06 per gallon, more than 3 cents per gallon above last week’s price but more than 7 cents per gallon below last year’s price at this time. Wholesale heating oil prices averaged more than $2.13 per gallon, almost 4 cents per gallon higher than last week’s price and more than 28 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
Residential propane prices averaged more than $2.02 per gallon, less than 1 cent per gallon more than last week’s price but almost 42 cents per gallon less than a year ago. Wholesale propane prices averaged almost $0.77 per gallon, nearly 5 cents per gallon lower than last week’s price and 3 cents per gallon below last year’s price.
For questions about This Week in Petroleum, contact the Petroleum Markets Team at 202-586-4522.
Retail prices (dollars per gallon)
| Retail prices | Change from last | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/23/19 | Week | Year | |
| Gasoline | 2.532 | -0.004 | 0.211 |
| Diesel | 3.041 | -0.005 | -0.036 |
| Heating Oil | 3.058 | 0.032 | -0.072 |
| Propane | 2.022 | 0.001 | -0.415 |
Futures prices (dollars per gallon*)
| Futures prices | Change from last | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/20/19 | Week | Year | |
| Crude oil | 60.44 | 0.37 | 14.85 |
| Gasoline | 1.706 | 0.043 | 0.388 |
| Heating oil | 2.022 | 0.036 | 0.289 |
| *Note: Crude oil price in dollars per barrel. | |||
Stocks (million barrels)
| Stocks | Change from last | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 12/20/19 | Week | Year | |
| Crude oil | 441.4 | -5.5 | -0.1 |
| Gasoline | 239.3 | 2.0 | 6.2 |
| Distillate | 124.9 | -0.2 | 5.0 |
| Propane | 88.398 | -2.562 | 16.179 |