Pump Price Update
Jane Van Ryan
Posted January 8, 2010
The record cold weather has helped to push up crude oil prices this week. When the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) closed yesterday, the price of oil stood at $82.66 a barrel. Because there are 42 gallons in a barrel of oil, this is equal to $1.97 per gallon.
Figures compiled by API using AAA data show that gasoline prices have risen about 14.1 cents a gallon since Dec. 22, while crude oil prices have climbed about 31 cents a gallon since December 14. As the graph below illustrates, pump prices tend to follow crude oil prices.
The price of crude oil is the largest determinant in the pump price of gasoline. Federal, state and local taxes, marketing and distribution costs, as well as local market conditions also have a role in retail prices. Historically, the difference between the crude price and the retail gasoline price has been about 97 cents a gallon over the past 10 years. Half of this difference is taxes.
AAA reports the average price of unleaded-regular gasoline was $2.725 yesterday, which was the highest price since October 2008. That's still significantly below the all-time high price, which was set in July 2008 at $4.11 a gallon.