Gasoline prices plummet as storage levels hit 25-year highs
Monday January 25, 2016
Prices at the pump are continuing to plummet as the nation's gasoline storage inventories hit their highest levels since 1990.
The Houston area sees an average of just $1.61 per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline on Monday, which is down more than 4 cents in a week, while the national average dropped 6.5 cents to $1.82 a gallon, according to GasBuddy survey data. Texas overall is averaging $1.62 a gallon.
Gasoline prices are at their lowest point in seven years courtesy of cheap oil prices and weakening fuel demands during the winter months, including much less driving in the Northeast because of the effects of winter storm Jonas. Gasoline prices nationwide have now dipped for 19 consecutive days, according to GasBuddy.
Gas prices could continue declining through February until refineries begin undergoing maintenance to switch to more expensive summer-blend fuels.
The U.S. benchmark for crude oil is currently hovering just over $31 a barrel, while gasoline inventories are at about 245 million barrels in the county.
As the Northeast digs out from the brutal blizzard Jonas, commodities markets are attempting to dig themselves out of their recent hole,†said Will Speer, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst, in a prepared statement. Crude oil futures have lost 18 percent of (their) value since the end of 2015 and have cleared the way for the retail gasoline price decline. Ample supply has been attributed as the cause of prices falling at the pump.â€
Speer cautioned that gasoline prices could spike briefly this week — following a brief jump in oil prices last week — but any such increase would prove temporary before coming back down again.
Nationwide, gasoline prices are averaging as little as $1.51 a gallon in Oklahoma and as much as $2.67 a gallon in California, which has faced supply issues from refinery outages.
In Houston, pump prices are as cheap as $1.32 a gallon at an Exxon station at Fondren Road and Harwin Drive, and as pricey as $2.59 per gallon in the Galleria area and along Interstate 10.