Average U.S. Gas Price Rises to $2.33, But Remains $1.11 Below Year-Ago Retail Level

AASHTO Journal, 27 February 2015

The national average retail price of gasoline reached $2.33 a gallon Feb. 23, the Energy Information Administration said, a 5.8-cent gain in the latest week but still down nearly a third from the $3.44 average pump price at the same point in 2014.

The EIA’s weekly snapshot of motor fuel prices, taken from a national survey of fueling stations, shows gasoline has risen four straight weeks since bottoming just above $2.04 a gallon in the Jan. 26 report. That was a nearly six-year low; pump prices have not been in that range or below since the depths of the 2008-09 recession.

Fuel market analysts had predicted such a price bounce, which they say is normal for this time of year as refineries idle for winter maintenance and to change over to production of costlier springtime and summer blends.

And while a 29-cent price jump in a month is significant, the latest national average of $2.33 is still lower than that at any time in 2014 until about Christmas. The weekly EIA pricing snapshot had the average gas price at $2.40 as of Dec. 22, and at $2.30 a week later.

The EIA also said its Feb. 23 survey put the national retail price of diesel fuel at $2.90, up 3.5 cents for the week and about $1.12 below its year-earlier level.

Diesel is the main fuel for heavy commercial trucks, freight railroads and barge lines, and is used in some passenger vehicles. Both trucking and freight rail firms use the EIA’s on-highway diesel price as a benchmark to adjust fuel surcharges on cargo shipments.

Since many of those adjust with a lag time, some freight contracts are still adjusting their fuel fees downward from earlier diesel price declines, while others that adjust rapidly have begun to pick up the February diesel price bounce.

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