(Oil & Gas 360) – Anyone spending any real-time driving on American highways the last five months had the pleasant surprise of falling gasoline and diesel prices, both down compared to this time in 2023.
Both fuels saw a price spike in the spring with the onset of the summer driving season, but prices have been in a slow, steady decline since. The cheapest gas and diesel are on the Gulf Coast; the most expensive are in California, with prices over a third higher than those found around the Gulf.
When purchasing gas or diesel, half of what drivers buy is for the oil itself. The remainder goes towards taxes (averaging fifteen percent), marketing, and distribution. Refining is the cheapest portion of the cost of buying a gallon of gasoline or diesel at around thirteen percent.
NATTY—Despite the start of the natural gas injection season, prices remain soft, with Henry Hub prices falling a little over $0.20 this week to $2.42 per BTU (British Thermal Unit). Recent prices flirted with $1.50 per BTU at some locations on the East Coast before some price support this week. The most expensive natural gas remains in Northern California, at over four dollars.
Working natural gas stocks are five percent higher than the five-year average at 3.7 trillion cubic feet. This week’s injections were fifteen percent lower than that five-year average at 76 billion cubic feet (Bcf).
Residential and commercial consumption for the week was up nearly fifty percent or roughly an eight Bcf bump to the daily consumption equation. In addition to continuing Canadian imports, another fourteen Bcf a day came in via Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) imports. At the same time, 22 LNG vessels left U.S. ports last week, with 83 Bcf slated for delivery around the world
COAL- Perhaps underscoring the growing recognition that coal isn’t going anywhere soon as the quest to electrify the world continues, United States coal exports are at a five-year high despite falling production.
U.S. producers are nearing 400 million short tons of production so far this year, thirteen percent behind last year’s pace. The Energy Information Administration splits its tally of the nation’s production to each side of the Mississippi River. Wyoming continues to be the dominant producer nationwide, and West Virginia is the dominant producer on the east side of the Mississippi.
THIS WINTER’S WINNERS: Those consuming heating oil for the winter, primarily in the east, are the big winners in this year’s energy story so far this fall. Though early, heating oil prices are nearly a dollar a gallon cheaper this October than last at $3.50 a gallon.
By Jim Felton for oilandgas360.com
