After a brief upward bump, Delaware gas prices headed downward last week.
The price at the pump, according to the weekly report from AAA Mid-Atlantic was $1.68 a gallon for regular, a decline of 8 cents from a week earlier.
Lower prices can be found on auto club’s Fuel Price Finder. As the low prices take hold, the wide price variations have disappeared.
The area of Kirkwood Highway-Capitol Trail between Newark and Wilmington was only about- 8 cents below the state average, after being well over a dime higher than that benchmark. Prices have been lower in that area, due to the presence of independent stations.
The price rose slightly in the past couple of weeks as the Delaware City Refining Co. reported a blizzard-related outage and reduced production. However, ample supplies are easing concerns about the effect of reduced production as Delaware City moves up a scheduled turnaround that will keep the site below capacity.
Delaware is one of the states below the national average price of $1.75 a gallon. Overall, prices at the pump nationwide are down four cents per gallon on the week, 24 cents per gallon on the month, and consumers are saving 55 cents per gallon versus this same date last year.
At the close of Friday’s formal trading on the NYMEX, the benchmark price for crude oil was down $1.45 for the week and settled at $29.44 per barrel.
Crude oil stumbled Thursday to near their cheapest prices since 2003 at $26.15 a barrel) as Wall Street indices plunged on economic uncertainties.
Slower-than-expected growth in China, a strengthening U.S. dollar, and ongoing speculation about what, if any, deals the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may attempt to broker on production are all weighing on the global oil market, AAA Mid-Atlantic reported.
“Unlike previous years, both gasoline and crude oil supplies are at record levels,” said Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “The convergence of these factors may point to a possible shift in the status quo, holding prices at the pumps steady for the near term, as long as crude oil prices remain relatively low and absent any major disruptions in supply or production.”
Domestic gasoline and crude oil supply are at record levels. The year’s refinery maintenance ramp up is expected to reduce gasoline inventories, which could help bring a bit of balance to the gasoline market.
This will likely not have the same impact on crude oil. The U.S. Energy Department Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts the U.S. retail regular gasoline price to average $1.98/gallon in 2016 (the first time since 2004 the annual average is projected to be below $2.00 a gallon) and $2.21 a gallon in 2017, compared with $2.43/gallon in 2015.
