On Monday, US gasoline prices went down as Tropical Storm Beta weakened and returned worries about weak fuel demand.
RBOB gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped by more than 5% to USD1.161/gallon, a session low, and ended a five-day streak of increases. In the US, gasoline prices at the pump averaged USD2.18/gallon, lower by 18% year-on-year.
US heating oil futures edged down by almost 5% on the same day.
As Beta has weakened, traders’ focus then shifted on slumping demand due to the coronavirus pandemic when the US summer driving season ended.
According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline product supplied has decerased to 8.5 million bpd, 9% below the same period a year ago and down from 9.2 million bpd in August.
Looking ahead, analysts are pessimistic regarding a swift recovery for the products market. The autumn would be re-shaped by the pandemic with fewer refiners are due to shut during the autumn maintenance season.
Refining margins would still be weighed down by the oversupplied distillate market at around USD9/barrel.
On a related note, an advisor on gasoline and driving trends firm GasBuddy has turned to a permanent work-from-home structure in Chicago.
