For the fifth consecutive week, the U.S. average price for regular gasoline fell, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Settling at $2.61 per gallon, the average dipped more than four cents but was 64 cents above one year ago. Prices were lower in all regions, with the average on the West Coast, comprised of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, dropping about three cents to $2.86 per gallon. The price in California dipped three and a half cents to $2.93 per gallon.
     Also dropping for the fifth week in a row, the U.S. average price for diesel fuel slipped a penny to $2.76 per gallon, 57 cents above the price a year ago. Diesel prices fell in all regions of the country. At $2.85, the average on the West Coast slipped more than a penny, while the price in California dropped two cents to $2.90 per gallon.
     Gasoline demand last week fell to 8.521 million barrels per day, reflecting the lowest single week for gasoline demand since Jan. 30, 2004. The rolling four-week average demand level of 8.630 million barrels per day represents the lowest number on that basis since Feb. 13, 2004. For further perspective, consider that from 2006 through 2008, these numbers were regularly above 9 million barrels per day.
     Experts say that supply figures support the contention that a sequence of storms, and not high prices or a soft economy, are the culprit in the latest slide. The Middle Atlantic region, where snowfall totals were measured in feet, saw gasoline inventories increase by 2.6 million barrels. The rest of the country saw a modest decrease in stocks.
     The EIA notes that the United States' net imports of gasoline, including net imports of both finished gasoline and blending components, increased significantly over the 1997 to 2007 period, peaking in 2007 at more than 1 million barrels per day, or 11 percent of total U.S. gasoline consumption. Since then, however, gasoline imports have fallen to an estimated 751 thousand barrels per day in the period from January through November 2009. This decline reflects a decrease in gasoline consumption due to relatively high prices at the pump, the increasing ethanol in U.S. gasoline blends, and the global economic downturn in 2008 and 2009.

Chris Nobles
Commercial Fueling 
Nella Oil Company