Story By Andreas Exarheas |RigZone.com|The average U.S. regular gasoline price is rising, the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest gasoline fuel update, which was released this week, showed.
According to the update, the price of U.S. regular gasoline was $3.095 per gallon on January 29, $3.136 per gallon on February 5, and $3.192 per gallon on February 12. The U.S. regular gasoline price was, however, $0.198 lower than the year-ago price, as of February 12, the update outlined.
The EIA’s gasoline update showed that the West Coast had the highest regular gasoline price, as of February 12, at $4.011 per gallon. The Rocky Mountain region was shown to have the lowest regular gasoline price, as of February 12, at $2.791 per gallon.
According to the AAA Gas Prices website, the average price of regular gasoline in the U.S. is $3.256 per gallon, as of February 14. Yesterday’s average was $3.225 per gallon, the week-ago average was $3.148 per gallon, the month-ago average was $3.069 per gallon, and the year-ago average was $3.414 per gallon, the AAA site showed.
As of February 14, the state with the cheapest regular gasoline price is Wyoming, at $2.765 per gallon, and the state with the most expensive regular gasoline price is Hawaii, at $4.705 per gallon, the AAA site outlined.
GasBuddy’s live ticking average for regular gasoline in the U.S. was $3.279 per gallon, on February 14, which the organization outlined was 4.8 cents higher than yesterday’s average, 15.1 cents higher than last week’s average, 22 cents higher than last month’s average, and 9.7 cents lower than last year’s average.
Gasoline Price Projections
In its latest short-term energy outlook (STEO), which was released earlier this month, the EIA projected that the U.S. regular gasoline price would average $3.13 per gallon in the first quarter of 2024, $3.40 per gallon in the second quarter, $3.50 per gallon in the third quarter, $3.21 per gallon in the fourth quarter, and $3.31 per gallon overall this year.
That STEO forecast that the U.S. regular price would come in at $3.18 per gallon in the first quarter of 2025, $3.41 per gallon in the second quarter, $3.46 per gallon in the third quarter, $3.18 per gallon in the fourth quarter, and $3.31 per gallon overall in 2025.
The EIA’s February STEO pegged the 2023 U.S. regular gasoline price at $3.52 per gallon. In its previous January STEO, the EIA projected that the U.S. regular gasoline price would average $3.36 per gallon in 2024 and $3.24 per gallon in 2025.
“The U.S. average retail price declines in our forecast as gasoline inventories increase and gasoline crack spreads fall,” the EIA said in its previous STEO.
“We expect U.S. gasoline prices to average around $3.40 per gallon in 2024 and $3.20 per gallon in 2025, compared with an average of more than $3.50 per gallon in 2023,” the organization added in that STEO.
What do you Pay For?
According to the EIA’s latest fuel update, which pinned the retail price of regular gasoline at $3.13 per gallon in December 2023, 56 percent of that total went towards crude oil costs, 19 percent went towards distribution and marketing costs, 16 percent went towards taxes, and 8 percent went towards refining costs.
An EIA fuel update released in January last year, which pegged the retail price of regular gasoline at $3.21 per gallon in December 2022, outlined that 58 percent of that total went towards crude oil costs, 18 percent went towards distribution and marketing costs, 16 percent went towards taxes, and 9 percent went towards refining costs.
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