U.S Gasoline Drops to $3.5586 per Gallon Despite Inventory Cut, Lundberg Survey

Lundberg Survey Inc. reported a still continuous decline on the gasoline price in the past two weeks. The price dropped at an average of 3.99 cents to $3.5586 per gallon.

The survey reported by Bloomberg covers the prices through Aug. 23 gathered from about 2,500 filling stations by the survey company.

Crude inventories fell three weeks in a row based on data gathered through Aug. 16. It is now on its lowest level in almost 12 months of comparison.

In can be remembered that the gasoline price had reached $3.795 in a period ending Feb. 22 which highlights the significant improvement on the recent price which is now 20.05 cents lower from the highest price recorded this year.

“We have tremendous gasoline production occurring here and American refiners are running at very high rates of capacity,” Trilby Lundberg, president of Lundberg Survey, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg. “There is no tightness in supply; if anything we have an oversupply of gasoline in the United States.”

Long Island in New York remains to have the highest gasoline price among 48 states surveyed. The price there average at $3.82 per gallon according to the report.

On the other hand, customers in Charleston, SC are enjoying the average gasoline price of $3.22 per gallon while it costs $3.80 in L.A.

However, the U.S gasoline inventories dropped by 4.03 million barrels in the week ending Aug. 16. This is the lowest since May according to the Energy Information Administration.

Lundberg explained that the continuos global gasoline price drop is linked to sufficient supplies from sources. Despite the minor drop in the gasoline inventory in the U.S, there is no shortage foreseen yet. In fact, the company is expecting another price drop instead of a rise in the next few days.

However, analysts expressed varying forecasts on the gasoline price. Twenty out of 33 believe that the drop will continue through end of August; seven says it will increase; while six said it will remain as is.