Gas prices leading up to the Labor Day weekend are the lowest they’ve been all season and right where they were this time last year. The national average price for regular grade gasoline held steady this week at $2.68 through Friday – a price not seen since February and the lowest price of the summer driving season that began over three months ago. Gas prices have also crept down to within pennies of last year’s Labor Day weekend prices and they remain $1.43 less than the record of $4.11 set two summer’s ago.
Crude oil continued to trade around $74 a barrel early in the week, capping its first monthly loss since May. However, Wall Street’s mid-week rise, the threat of Hurricane Earl and an explosion at an offshore oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico sent prices back up on Thursday. Crude settled at $75.02 Thursday, ahead of the Labor Day holiday weekend.
In its weekly report, the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) data showed crude oil stocks rose 3.4 million barrels to 361.7 million barrels. Gasoline stocks dropped 212,000 barrels to 225.4 million barrels. The EIA also reported gasoline demand remains steady at 9.386 million barrels per day (bpd), up 11,000 bpd for the week.
The Weekend
AAA is projecting the number of Americans traveling for the upcoming Labor Day holiday weekend will increase 9.9 percent from 2009, with approximately 34.4 million travelers taking a trip at least 50 miles away from home. Last year, 31.3 million Americans traveled during the Labor Day holiday.
“Motorists will undoubtedly notice the lowest gas prices of the summer when they fill up for one last road trip of the season this Labor Day weekend,” said Tracy Noble, Manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “Over 31 million Americans are projected to take to the roads this weekend, so whether or not Hurricane Earl impacts travel in our area, with over 10 percent more people traveling by car this year than last, we know the roadways will be busy.”
The Week Ahead
Looking past Labor Day, typically the third quarter of the year brings lower gasoline demand and therefore, lower gas prices. However, September is typically a very active month for hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. Any disruption to refining in the Gulf Coast, would likely send crude oil and gas prices higher.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
