Business Headlines

Lundberg Says U.S. Gasoline to Extend Slump on Crude’s Rout

©2015 Bloomberg News
NTJZCF6KLVR5

(Bloomberg) — U.S. gasoline prices at the pump will extend a decline after crude oil tumbled to a six-year low, said Trilby Lundberg, the president of Lundberg Survey Inc.

“Retail price cuts are in the cards” for gasoline, Lundberg said Sunday in a telephone interview. “It would take a powerful oil-price hike to reverse them.”

The average for regular gasoline at U.S. pumps fell 0.35 cent to $2.7073 a gallon in the two weeks ended Aug. 21, Camarillo, California-based Lundberg said Sunday. Her report is based on information from about 2,500 filling stations. The price is 77.12 cents lower than a year ago.

Motorists will get the benefit of lower crude, Lundberg said. On Aug. 21, West Texas Intermediate futures for October delivery dropped 87 cents, or 2.1 percent, to settle at $40.45 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest close since March 2009. The contract touched $39.86 during the session.

The highest price for gasoline in the lower 48 states among the markets surveyed was in Los Angeles at $3.60 a gallon, Lundberg said. The lowest was Charleston, South Carolina, where customers paid an average $2.10. Regular gasoline averaged $2.67 on Long Island, New York.

WTI fell 7.8 percent in the two weeks ended Aug. 21, and gasoline futures on the Nymex declined 4.8 percent to $1.5449 a gallon.

This year, the oil benchmark has slumped 24 percent, while gasoline futures climbed 7.6 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jessica Summers in New York at jsummers24@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margot Habiby at mhabiby@bloomberg.net Patrick McKiernan, Kevin Miller

The Author

Men of Value Contributor

Men of Value Contributor

Articles by various contributors to Men of Value, an online magazine for American men who value our Judeo-Christian values of faith, family, and freedom.

No Comment

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *