U.S. average regular gasoline and diesel prices decrease (12/28/2018)

The U.S. average regular gasoline retail price decreased nearly 5 cents from last week to $2.32 per gallon on December 24, 2018, down more than 15 cents per gallon from the same time last year. Rocky Mountain prices fell 9 cents to $2.49 per gallon, East Coast prices decreased nearly 6 cents to $2.30 per gallon, Midwest prices fell more than 5 cents to $2.08 per gallon, Gulf Coast prices decreased 5 cents to $1.98 per gallon, and West Coast prices fell 3 cents to $3.08 per gallon. ... More »

Current crude oil price declines are similar to 2014, but some measures of U.S. oil producers' financial positions vary (12/19/2018)

The decline in oil prices since the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2018 is of similar magnitude to the fourth-quarter price decline in 2014. After the fourth-quarter 2014 price decline, prices dropped further in 2015 amid high volatility for several years, which contributed to bankruptcies, consolidations, and closures within the industry. When comparing the financial positions of U.S. oil producers as of the third quarter of 2018 with the third quarter of 2014, most measures of profitability and balance sheet fitness indicate companies should be able to weather the recent price downturn. Oil price volatility and uncertainty remain high, however, and financial pressures could increase if prices continue to decline. ... More »

Record-high U.S. crude oil production contributes to lower forecast prices (12/12/2018)

In the December 2018 update of its Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) decreased its Brent spot price forecast to $71 per barrel (b) in 2018 and $61/b in 2019, down $2/b and $11/b, respectively, from last month. EIA expects that West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices will average about $7/b lower than Brent prices next year. In a continuing price decline that began in mid-October, Brent spot prices fell from $71/b on November 1 to $58/b on November 30 (Figure 1), averaging $65/b for the month, down $16/b from October. ... More »

Crude oil imports from Canada by rail now exceed rail movements from Bakken (12/6/2018)

Between 2010 and 2017, most of the crude oil moved by rail in the United States came from the Midwest (Petroleum Administration for Defense District, or PADD, 2), driven by production out of the Bakken region and the price differential between Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oils. Since 2017, however, crude oil imports by rail from Canada have increased and, in recent months, exceeded volumes originating from PADD 2. The recent increase in Canadian crude oil imports by rail is driven by growing Canadian production combined with pipeline constraints out of Canada. A steep price discount of Western Canadian Select (WCS) to WTI is associated with these developments. WCS crude oil is typically priced lower than other crude oils because of differences in crude oil quality, although increasing production of WCS and pipeline capacity constraints in Western Canada have resulted in even lower prices of WCS compared with Brent and WTI. ... More »