What s behind the 9-cent leap in Chattanooga gas prices, Times Free Press
What’s behind the 9-cent leap in Chattanooga gas prices?
FILE – In this Thursday, July 16, 2015, file photo, a customer re-fuels her car at a Costco in Robinson Township, Pa. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, in its monthly short-term energy outlook that regular gasoline will average $1.98 a gallon nationwide in 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
Gas prices in Chattanooga rose for the 2nd consecutive week, leaping by an average of nine cents per gallon in the past week, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of one hundred seventy gas outlets in Chattanooga.
The average price of a gallon of regular gas commenced the week in Chattanooga at $1.58, up from $1.49 a gallon a week ago and $1.43 a gallon two weeks ago when prices plunged to the lowest level in decades.
Gas prices could trend still higher following the five percent price leap in global oil markets Monday, pushing up the price of Brent oil to a two thousand sixteen peak above $40 a barrel after Ecuador said it was holding a meeting of Latin American crude producers as OPEC sought a higher anchor price for oil.
Oil prices have rallied more than fifty percent since hitting 12-year lows less than two months ago. Major OPEC producers are talking about a fresh oil price equilibrium of around $50, Fresh York-based consultancy PIRA told Reuters Fresh Service.
"It’s more confirmation that oil producers are close to achieving some kind of a deal on price support," said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. "It’s feeding bullish sentiment into a market that’s turned one hundred eighty degrees from where it stood just weeks ago."
Oil futures on the Fresh York Mercantile Exchange hopped $Two.04 a barrel, or almost Five.7 percent, to close at $37.96 per barrel.
Despite the higher prices over the past duo of weeks in Chattanooga, average fuel prices in the Scenic City are still twenty three cents per gallon below the U.S. average, according to GasBuddy.com.
Gas prices were at a low in the region at two gas stations in Soddy-Daisy Monday, where regular gas is priced at $1.45 a gallon.
"Taking a cue from the prior week’s price rebound, retail gasoline prices continued its upward thrust by enhancing almost nine cents per gallon on average nationwide," Will Speer, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst, said in a statement Monday. "While most of the gasoline market was pricing in the premium associated with the transition to summer-blend gasoline, last week’s strength in crude futures prices provided no ease for the rising gas prices."
But Speer said crude and petroleum stocks still remain at historically high levels, which should prevent much more price appreciation in gas prices, at least in the brief run.
"This oversupply will provide a ceiling for gas prices over the next duo of months as spring refinery maintenance and the summer-blend gasoline transition put upward pressure on prices," he said.