fuel trends

Fuel prices have dropped across multiple products with both gas and diesel down. Rack averages for E10 dropped $0.24/gal while diesel dropped $0.10/gal. The average price of gasoline in Oregon is at its lowest price since June 2021, giving drivers an early holiday gift on the road. Oil prices jumped to over $70/barrel this past week as oil prices went up for the first time in 6 weeks. Domestic crude oil production is again at a record high reaching 13.51 million barrels per day in the week ending Nov 29th. Drivers should expect to see prices continue to fall for fuel prices as we enter into the winter season.

With the Thanksgiving holiday week comes time off for much of corporate America. Most people took off time for travel and family gatherings. Due to this, there was not much movement in the market after Wednesday of last week. Rack averages for diesel did not move more than a penny and gasoline jumped by $0.03/gal. Retail prices also did not have much fluctuation as they only moved about $0.01/gal. Gas prices should trickle down this week as we roll into the winter season this month starting Dec 21st.

Fuel prices jumped this past week with most of the price variance affecting E10 gasoline. On the 19th the rack average for E10 in Portland jumped $0.12 in one day and continued to climb later into the week. The reasons for this are unknown as there were no refinery shutdowns or supply bottlenecks in the past week. Diesel prices were mostly unchanged with price variances below $0.05/gal for B5 & B20. AAA predicts record travel trends for the Thanksgiving holiday this season, which may contribute to higher fuel prices over the rest of the week.  

Fuel prices dropped this past week with E10, B5 & B20 all down at least $0.09/gal. This marks the lowest average gas price in Oregon this year down $0.59/gal from a year ago today. These downward price shifts are a good sign for the region, which has higher fuel prices than nearly every other state. These trends should continue into the winter months as fuel prices have been relatively low for the last 3 months. There are some concerns of another hurricane ripping through the Gulf Coast which would affect oil production and distribution throughout the country but this is ultimately an unknown factor. Hurricane season typically goes from June through November and current reports do not show any natural disasters in the Gulf Region anytime soon.  

Fuel price changes were minimal this past week as E10, B5 & B20 moved a penny or less per gal on their rack average price. Retail prices saw similar movement as most prices stayed the same or moved by a penny or less. Crude oil prices dropped this past week as well keeping fuel prices low. Gas prices are about $0.30/gal lower than a year ago today.

President-Elect Donald Trump has already announced some of his key focuses for his first 100 days in office with US oil and gas production being one of his main talking points. The United States produced more oil and gas than ever before in history this year, although most production is being sold internationally. Time will tell how effective the proposed policies will be on the overall price of energy domestically.

Fuel prices dropped last week as we are finally starting to see the autumn fuel trends hit the market. Although oil prices trickled up slightly, fuel prices dropped this week on the wholesale and retail markets. Rack averages for E10 dropped $0.09/gal while diesel dropped $0.08/gal. Retail averages for Oregon dropped $0.02/gal while the national average dropped $0.03/gal. We should see these trends continue into November and December as we roll into the winter season.

From early reports, the last shipment of Renewable Diesel will be reaching Portland this week, with expectations that there will not be any more for the rest of the year. One of the biggest producers of R99, Neste, announced production cuts after issues at their refinery in Singapore. This will affect the Portland RFS fuel mandate pushing for higher blends of biofuels with many businesses already using Renewable Diesel for most of their fuel consumption.

Prices jumped again this past week with rack averages up on all products. Most of this influx was seen within the wholesale market and had little impact on prices on the retail side of the market. Rack averages for E10 jumped $0.11/gal while B5 & B20 both jumped over $0.20/gal. The retail average in Oregon only moved $0.01/gal for gas and $0.13/gal. Most Oregon stations have switched to the winter blend of fuel, which should help prices trickle back down in the coming weeks. The logistical challenges and refinery switches required for this new fuel may have contributed to the uptick in prices in recent weeks.