Oil, gasoline prices continue rise
Oil prices continued climbing Thursday, backed in part by global production drops and a dip in U.S. storage levels.
The price rise over the past two days nearly erased a sharp drop earlier this week after President Donald Trump tweeted opposition to OPEC's plans to slow production.
Domestic benchmark West Texas Intermediate added 28 cents Thursday to close at $57.22 a barrel, down 4 cents from Friday but still up 35 percent from $42.53 on Christmas Eve.
Oil prices fell more than 3 percent Monday following Trump's tweet, but prices recovered as OPEC leaders brushed off the criticism and signaled they will continue with their plans to scale back production in attempt to drive prices higher.
U.S. production, however, has continued to increase, growing to 12.1 million barrels per day last week, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Wednesday.
While U.S. production has continued to climb, storage levels dipped this week, down 8.6 million barrels to 445.9 million barrels. Stocks at Cushing, however, added 1.6 million barrels to 46.7 million.
Rising oil prices over the past two months have been beneficial for the state's oil patch and for state coffers, but they also have led to a sharp rise at the pump for gasoline consumers.
The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in Oklahoma City was $2.19 on Thursday, up 3 cents over the past week and up almost 19 cents over the past month, according to AAA. The price still was almost 14 cents less than one year ago.
Nationwide, gasoline prices topped $2.41 a gallon on Thursday, up almost 4 cents over the past week and more than 15 cents over the past month. The price is about 8 cents less than one year ago.
“Motorists are seeing more expensive gas prices as a result of ongoing refinery problems coupled with crude oil prices hitting their highest level so far this year as global crude inventories tighten,” AAA Oklahoma spokeswoman Leslie Gamble said in a statement last week. “Inventories are likely to continue to tighten and keep gas prices higher through the end of the month.”
“Gasoline prices saw their biggest weekly jump of 2019 with the national average now at its highest point since mid-December as oil prices continue to advance. While such jumps are in line with expectations, that doesn't make them any easier to digest,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.
“Unfortunately, we're likely in store for a continued march higher into March and even April as seasonal trends kick into high gear, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Average gas prices should remain lower than their year-ago levels for now and the annual spring surge we see at gas pumps will likely not be as bad as we've seen in years past.”