The state average retail price of gasoline increased another 4 cents from last week to $1.91, and the state average retail diesel price jumped 7 cents to $1.99 per gallon with several cities over $2.00.
Oil production recovery has progressed much slower than expected. In addition, Hurricane Ivan, which eventually turned into a tropical depression, returned to the Gulf of Mexico. On its second visit, Hurricane Ivan was still powerful enough to reportedly shut down the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) for a day. As of September 24, the operating capacity of refineries was down to 84% due to insufficient quantities of crude oil following a large drop in imports. Oil on loan from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is being received at refineries and crude oil imports are increasing but refineries are now curtailing operations to perform routine maintenance (seasonal turnaround).
Midwest diesel fuel inventories are above the normal range for this time of year while the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions� inventories are low. Both regional and national gasoline stocks remain tight.
An archive of this report and historical weekly prices are available.
