BOSTON, Mar. 28, 2016 – The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline has passed the $2 per gallon level for five straight days, the longest streak since 2015, rising 5.2 cents in the last week to $2.041 per gallon Monday morning according to price-tracker GasBuddy.com which supplies the data for WANE.com’s Gas Gauge.
The rise in gasoline prices comes as refiners appear to be ramping up seasonal maintenance work ahead of the all-important summer driving season, when demand is at its highest. Weekly figures from the Energy Information Administration back up that reality, showing a slip in refinery utilization, a large rise in oil inventories as gasoline inventories decline. Motorists who watch crude oil prices could be mystified as crude oil prices dropped back under $40 per barrel last week, yet the kink in the hose lies at the refining level until maintenance wraps up, typically in the month of May.
In the last week, gasoline prices rose in all but two states (Michigan saw a 6.1 cent decline and North Dakota fell just two tenths of a penny). The jump at the pump was led by Arizona, which saw a 14 cent rise, New Hampshire, up 11 cents, Massachusetts, up 11 cents, Connecticut, up 11 cents, South Carolina, up 11 cents and New Jersey, up 10 cents.
The gasoline price climate across the U.S. has heated up again as 97.7% of all U.S. gas stations are found selling over $1.75 a gallon Monday, a sharp rise from the 40.7% a month ago. Over a third of stations are found over $2/gallon today, a rise from just 10% a month ago.
While gasoline prices have spiked, diesel prices have remained relatively stable, rising just 12 cents in the last month to $2.10 per gallon this morning, up from $1.98 a month ago as warmer than average temperatures keep heating oil demand weak.
“The rise in gasoline prices comes as refinery maintenance begins kicking into high gear,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “It’s not a fun time to be filling up as gasoline prices see their typical seasonal rise. However, this year’s jump thus far has seen average prices remain well below year ago levels across much of the nation.”
“As crude oil prices fell gently last week back under $40 per barrel, motorists shouldn’t necessarily expect the worst increases to be over just yet. Until the bulk of refinery maintenance season wraps up in late May, we likely won’t see the lower oil prices immediately bring relief to the pump as oil and gasoline inventories continue to move in the opposite direction. Last week, the Energy Information Administration pointed to a huge 9.4 million barrel rise in oil inventories while gasoline inventories fell nearly five million barrels, which points to continued tightness in supply and likely a continued rise in gasoline prices for the time being,” DeHaan said.
http://wane.com/2016/03/28/analyst-refinery-maintenance-to-blame-for-rising-gas-prices/
push everything off on the public do not use your funds what a joke. ALL Maintenance is budgeted yearly. Now they steal from US.
Yup I’ve worked as a contractor doing maintenance in these facilities
they already know what their costs are , and they are projected and funded years in advance , the only thing that they dont have is the ability to see the future , like as in an emergency repair , or an accident causes damage .. but they have insurance for that , and some overages from not spending all of their project moneys each turnaround ..And if a project was coming up they are getting bids on it a year or more in advance , unlike maintenance , where they already know and fund prior to it ever being done
like always , were being lied to
So as I see it, there must be a continual stream of profit for these oil companies, which must not ever be allowed to drop below a hard deck of x millions per week. If this logic held for the American National, then our hourly “wage” would rise as needed when we needed to put a roof on the house or a transmission in the truck. Somehow I don’t think this would be welcome by those that have to pay the “wage”, so why is it allowed for these CORPORATE types?
The above is a rhetorical question, obviously, since we know the puppeteers who really pull the strings in this “land of freedom and opportunity”. Sadly, it appears this land has turned into a sea of “serfdom and opportunism”. Perhaps the time is near when the American National will bring about another type of pulling on strings – hemp strings with traitorous criminal puppets on the ends.
The one thing MOST despicable about this oil b.s. is that there is more in the Midwest than ALL the M.E. countries combined.
WE DON’T EVEN NEED THEIR SH#T!!!
more bs,
suadies are monopolizing the market by bankrupting the us fracking market.
they are both bad