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☆ Gas prices are heading down, with or without Biden’s help
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —It’s not at all clear if President Joe Biden’s latest announcement that he’s releasing oil from the nation’s emergency stockpile will help bring gas prices down. The national average stood at $3.85 a gallon Wednesday, down 2 cents from Tuesday and 7 cents in the last week. But a number of West Coast refineries that had been offline have returned to operations, and that has sparked a plunge in gas prices west of the Rocky Mountains, driving down the national average. “As it started selling off [Tuesday], it triggered some liquidation [of oil futures].” Oil and gas prices both rebounded modestly in Wednesday trading. Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified the day of the week the national gas price average stood at $3.85 a gallon and the prior day.

☆ America’s emergency oil stockpile is at a 38-year low but it’s still got firepower left
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

More than any of his predecessors, President Joe Biden has aggressively leaned on this emergency oil stockpile to knock down the high pump prices that voters despise. That has left this emergency oil stockpile at its lowest point since June 1984 — a time when both the US economy and energy demand was significantly smaller than today. The SPR headlines are rattling an energy market already on edge over a potential recession. US oil prices dropped 3% to $82.82 on Tuesday, returning to levels last seen before rumors swirled regarding OPEC+’s controversial production cuts. They’ve done a tremendous job achieving their goal of trying to get energy prices lower,” said Michael Tran, managing director of global energy strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

It was the longest losing streak for gasoline prices since the early months of the pandemic: For 98-consecutive days this summer, American drivers experienced declining gas prices thanks in part to a slower worldwide demand for oil. According to AAA, the national average gas price climbed to $3.92 a gallon Monday. Prices are likely to keep going higher from here as oil prices continue to climb, according to Patrick De Haan, chief petroleum analyst at gas price tracking group GasBuddy.com. In a note to clients Monday, Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC consultancy, said he also expects gasoline prices to rise to as high as $4. "When prices are going up each day, when spot prices are going up each day, it’s costing us a little more because we bought it today at the highest price versus four days ago," Galanti said.

☆ $4 gas could be coming — again
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Here’s the bad news first: Gas prices are on the rise in most of the US and could soon hit a national average of $4 a gallon for the first time in two months. The national average price Monday was $3.92 for a gallon of regular gas. That’s up 12 cents in just the last week and 24 cents since a 98-day price slide ended late last month. Now those refineries are starting to come back online — and the price of gas in Western states is already falling. Currently roughly 25% of the nation’s 130,000 gas stations are selling regular gas for $4 or more, up from about 15% when the slide in prices ended last month.

☆ Fury at Saudi Arabia revives calls for US to throw the book at OPEC
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN Business —OPEC+’s decision to slash oil production has set off bipartisan fury in Washington directed at the Saudi Arabia-led group, raising calls for a hard-hitting US response. And as Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna told CNN earlier this week, in some ways the United States is less dependent on Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations than in the past. US oil production has skyrocketed over the past 15 years, driving down foreign oil imports. Last year, US crude oil imports from OPEC nations stood at just 798,000 barrels per day. OPEC nations are among the only countries with the firepower to fill any gap created by the potential loss of Russian supply.

New York CNN Business —Even before Wednesday’s action by OPEC+ to cut oil production, US gas prices were on their way up. Gas prices rose nearly 3 cents a gallon in AAA’s daily reading Wednesday, to $3.83 a gallon, the biggest one-day hike in nearly four months. Gasoline futures are up about 20 cents a gallon since the slide in gasoline prices ended last month, pointing to possible higher prices ahead. Unfortunately, the refinery capacity squeeze “means gas prices are not going to go down like I had thought,” said veteran oil analyst Andy Lipow. The concern by the Biden administration is that rising gas prices bring renewed focus in voters’ mind.

☆ Oil edges up as supply woes outweigh demand and rate hike worries
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Crude oil storage tanks are seen in an aerial photograph at the Cushing oil hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S. April 21, 2020. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, fell short of its oil production target by 3.583 million barrels per day (bpd) in August, an internal document showed. read moreStill, oil also came under pressure from hopes of an easing of Europe's gas supply crisis. read more"The market still has the start of European sanctions on Russian oil hanging over it. As supply is disrupted in early December, the market is unlikely to see any quick response from U.S. producers," ANZ analysts said.

Gas prices have now declined for 79 consecutive days amid falling global oil prices, sending the national average price per gallon to its lowest level since March. Data from AAA show the national average gas price now sits at $3.81 per gallon. Western states tend to have higher gas taxes, and are located further away from the fuel processing hubs in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. Northeast states are also seeing higher prices, as they experience tight supplies of gasoline. He predicted U.S. gas prices are likely to fall to $3.70 by the middle of September, and as low as $3.50 by Halloween, if not sooner.

☆ Oil stocks are acting like the top is in for one-time hottest trade of 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-04 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

But Energy stocks are acting like this may be the top. Lately, traders have been selling off oil stocks under the theory that profits in 2023 will likely be lower than 2022, not higher. The reason: the primary determinant of oil company profits are oil prices, and estimates for oil are coming down. For much of 2022, oil has been in "backwardation": futures prices for the most immediate contracts have been higher than prices farther out. Bulls are cheering the drop in Energy No one cheering for stocks to rally are crying over the drop in oil, or the drop in oil stocks.

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