Wednesday, April 6, 2016

WXYZ on Detroit gas prices


Two days after I posted Gas prices rise but are still (mostly) below $2, WXYZ uploaded Gas prices on the rise across metro Detroit.

Gas prices in metro Detroit are on the rise, with some stations having prices at more than $2 per gallon.
That would have been the perfect video to use with my blog entry.  Oh, well, better late than never.

The irony is that GasBuddy lists the prices as unchanged or even down for the stations in my old neighborhood.  The corner station dropped its price from $2.15, like the one in the video, to $1.93, while the two stations down the street held steady at $1.90.  So much for that charge into No Mans Land!  Even more ironic, the Detroit average for regular has also gone sideways at $1.97.  So has the national average, which is still at $2.05.  Rising gas prices?  April Fools!

I gave a hint this might happen during my last report.
While the retail environment is pushing the price a the pump up, the wholesale environment is not.  Oil-Price.Net shows yesterday's closes for WTI at $38.28 and Brent at $39.14, about $2 less than the $40.20 and $41.54 of two weeks ago.  Also, RBOB fell more than a penny to $1.45.  Those trends should moderate the rate of increase.
Oil has continued to fall.  Oil-Price.Net lists yesterday's closes for WTI at $35.89 and Brent at $37.87, another drop of about $2.  Also, it shows RBOB at $1.38.  As long as these trends continue, prices at the pump will rise little if at all, and may even drop for a bit.

2 comments:

  1. I'd heard that gas was going to go way up. As you say, that hasn't happened. It's gone up to approximately $2.00, but nothing like what I was hearing/anticipating.

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    1. My guess is that those forecasts assumed that the seasonal gas price increase would be on top of rising oil prices. With falling oil prices, the seasonal price rise has stalled out--for now. Expect it to resume later this month.

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