It's time again for my weekly gasoline update based on data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Rounded to the penny, Regular and Premium are both two cents cheaper per gallon. Prices have been hovering in a narrow range for the past six weeks. Regular is up 48 cents and Premium 46 cents from their interim lows during the second week of last November.
According to GasBuddy.com, California, Hawaii and Alaska have Regular above $4.00 per gallon, up from two the previous week, and two states (Michigan and Illinois) are averaging above $3.90, up down from four states last week. Arkansas has the cheapest Regular at $3.37.
How far are we from the interim high prices of 2011 and the all-time highs of 2008? Here's a visual answer.
The next chart is a weekly chart overlay of West Texas Intermediate Crude, Brent Crude and unleaded gasoline end-of-day spot prices (GASO). WTIC closed yesterday at 104.41, up from 12.45 this time last week.
The volatility in crude oil and gasoline prices has been clearly reflected in recent years in both the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE). For additional perspective on how energy prices are factored into the CPI, see here.
The chart below offers a comparison of the broader aggregate category of energy inflation since 2000, based on categories within Consumer Price Index (commentary here).
Here are some additional commentaries related to gasoline prices:
- Gasoline Volume Sales, Demographics and our Changing Culture
- Vehicle Miles Driven as an Economic Indicator