Posted on 05/17/2022 12:46:31 PM PDT by blam
Gas prices at the pump hit $4 a gallon in every state for the first time Monday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). This is mainly due to languishing refinery capacity across the US, dwindling fuel stockpiles, and robust demand for gas ahead of the summer driving season.
Kansas, Oklahoma, and Georgia — the last three holdouts — saw prices for regular gas surpass the $4 a gallon mark last night. The national average for a gallon of gasoline is $4.523, another record high. The increase comes as the cost of crude oil now tops $114 a barrel.
In a note to clients on Monday, Goldman Sachs’ commodity analyst Neil Mehta outlined that rising fuel prices were due to a rash of refinery retirements, reduced Russian energy exports, recovering jet fuel demand, and tight global inventories for products, particularly diesel, have supported higher prices at the pump.
Mehta indicated that US fuel product inventories are 10% below a five-year average and refining utilization rates are below normal.
US refining utilization struggles to increase as the driving season nears.
This means tight supplies and rising demand will only push pump prices higher. Wholesale gasoline prices signal that $5 a gallon on a national level is imminent.
Despite record-high gasoline prices, GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, said weekly gasoline demand increased by 3% in the past week and was up 1.8% compared to the four-week average.
“Americans clearly aren’t being too discouraged by high gas prices,” De Haan tweeted on Sunday.
Demand destruction has yet to materialize as demand remains above a 20-year average. People still have to drive to work…
Meanwhile, President Biden’s cunning SPR release fails to lower crude prices. SPR levels are dangerously low, at levels not seen since 1987.
All indications point to higher fuel prices at the pump this summer. The most important question is when does demand destruction emerge. So far, not yet.
Well, that is the plan now isn’t it.
And the elites don’t really care.
Good.
$4.19/9 today here in mid Missouri
Build back better!
Once all the credit cards get maxed out on food and gas you’ll see demand drop.
Agreed, although your tagline, It's going to take real, serious, hard times to wake the American public, may not be proven true. Americans allowed a lot of freedom losses and reduction of quality of life the past 2+ years, and most seem to be in no hurry to reverse the trend.
Even if a majority are and do so at the ballot box, that's not what the outcome will be in November 2022 once the "counting" is done.
When inflation occurs, prices tend to rise generically across all sectors of the economy. As a result, higher gas prices may also be met with higher vehicle prices, higher food prices, and higher housing costs. In such a case, demand destruction is less likely since all alternatives become more expensive at the same time.
Now over $5 in southern Oregon.
I got gas yesterday at Sams. It was 3.78 a gallon and each of the 20 or so pumps were 3 cars deep waiting in line. I had half a tank but decided to fill up before prices go even higher.
JPMorgan Sees Gas Prices Hitting $6.20 By August
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/jpmorgan-sees-gas-prices-hitting-620-august
Their places have been reserved.
This isn’t news. It’s been over $4 here ($4.69) for weeks now. Diesel is up to $6+ here in central New York State.
I’m guessing that if you are an Uber or Lyft driver, your margins are shrinking quickly.
Good luck.
5.56mm
My local station just jumped from $4.85 to $5.09, in Salem Oregon.
I paid over four dollars per gallon for the first time yesterday here in Texas. $4.19 and climbing.
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