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Gas prices still show volatility
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NEWS-TIMES
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
MOREHEAD CITY — The cost of a gallon of gas began falling across the region late this week but stations here appeared reluctant to match prices seen elsewhere.
Oil prices extended their losses Thursday even as OPEC hinted it might cut output at an emergency meeting next month to halt the market’s dramatic slide. But prices at the pump have been erratic.
Prices for regular unleaded in Morehead City observed early today ranged from $3.63 at the Murphy station to $3.77 per gallon at JD’s Gas. Murphy had increased its price since Thursday night, when it was charging $3.58 per gallon.
Callers to this newspaper Thursday reported prices south of here were as much as 40 cents cheaper per gallon than those charged in the county.
The Daily News of Jacksonville reported prices had dropped sharply – between 20 and 30 cents a gallon – in Onslow County within two hours Tuesday. One station was selling regular gasoline for $3.41 a gallon.
The Raleigh News & Observer reported Wednesday some parts of North Carolina had the most expensive gasoline in the continental United States, but the claim may have seemed odd to anyone traveling across the South during the past few days.
North Carolina motorists paid an average of $3.79 a gallon for regular gasoline Tuesday, according to the report. That’s 31 cents above the national average and higher than any other state except for Alaska and Hawaii.
The statewide average dropped to $3.76 a gallon Wednesday, according to the AAA Carolinas auto club, compared to a national average of $3.44 a gallon. Average prices ranged from $3.52 a gallon in the Wilmington area to $3.85 in the Raleigh area, AAA said.
Neighboring states were cheaper. South Carolina’s average was $3.62 and Virginia averaged $3.41, according to the report.
Along interstates through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, prices Monday ranged from about $3.59-$3.99 per gallon with most observed stations charging about $3.79.
Industry and government officials say the hurricanes that disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico are responsible for the higher prices.
Much of the gasoline brought into the state while the pipeline was being refilled came on tanker truck convoys, but kept the prices higher, said Carol Gifford, spokeswoman for Charlotte-based AAA Carolinas.
“We had to ship it from Jacksonville, Fla., to Charlotte, just to get some of those stations wet,” said Pete Sodini, president of the Sanford-based Pantry chain that has 1,600 stores in 11 states. “It cost almost 30 cents a gallon to truck it from Jacksonville, but we had no choice.”
Extra deliveries at the N.C. Port of Wilmington improved supplies in the eastern part of the state and some stations had prices Monday below $3.40.
The North Carolina attorney general’s office has investigated reports of price gouging, but a spokeswoman would not say Tuesday whether there is any evidence of overcharging.
Fearful that oil prices could fall too far and harm their petroleum-dependent economies, OPEC said it would hold an extraordinary meeting Nov. 18 in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the widening economic crisis and how it’s affecting the oil market.
The 13-member cartel didn’t mention a production cut but hinted that such a move may be coming, saying it would work “to ensure that oil market fundamentals are kept in balance and market stability is maintained.”
Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $1.44 to $86.99 a barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after fluctuating between positive and negative territory earlier in the day.
The contract fell $1.11 on Wednesday to settle at $88.95 after earlier edging below $85 – a key technical level that some traders believe could lead to another plunge.
Crude has shed about $60 – or 40 percent of its value – since soaring to a record $147.27 on July 11. The massive losses come as a global financial downturn forces people and businesses everywhere to cut back.
Libyan national oil company chief Shukri Ghanem on Thursday called on oil producing nations to cut output to “protect their interest (and) stop the loss of income.”
“However, OPEC’s aim is to create a balanced market, which neither harms the producers nor the importers,” Mr. Ghanem told The Associated Press.
OPEC controls 40 percent of the world’s oil supply, but many analysts doubt it will be able to slow oil’s descent just by tightening output. OPEC’s announcement that it would cut production by 520,000 barrels a day failed to halt oil’s drop.
Peter Beutel, oil analyst at Cameron Hanover, New Canaan, Conn., said history shows that OPEC cuts can rally prices for “a week, two weeks or a month.”
“But over a longer period of time, they’re incapable of stopping major moves,” Mr. Beutel said. “We’ve been down this road before, but OPEC refuses to learn this lesson.”
Meanwhile, oil market traders continue to watch a fast-unfolding financial crisis. The U.S. Federal Reserve, along with central banks in Europe and China cut interest rates Wednesday in a bid to jump-start lending. But U.S. stocks sank in response Wednesday and continued to fall Thursday.
“Traders are expecting the world to move toward recession, with the U.S. and Europe especially a concern,” said Gerard Rigby, an energy analyst with Fuel First Consulting in Sydney. “Based on the short-term trend, you could see prices approaching $80 next week.”
Weighing on prices was evidence of falling demand in the U.S, where crude inventories jumped by 8.1 million barrels last week while gasoline stocks surged 7.2 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday in its weekly inventory report.
Both increases far exceeded expectations, reflecting both persistently weak demand and a recovery of the Gulf Coast energy complex that had been shut down by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
“Overall demand for oil fell for a fifth straight week and year-on-year demand fell for a 24th straight week” this year, noted trader and analyst Stephen Schork in his Schork Report. “In fact last week demand ... fell to the lowest level since the week following the 9/11/2001 attacks.”
Demand for gasoline was also weaker, falling 5.3 percentage points over the four weeks ended Oct. 3 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the EIA report.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 4.92 cents at $2.4453 a gallon while gasoline lost 4.83 cents to $2.4462 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery rose 6.5 cents to $6.807 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, November Brent crude fell $1.27 to $83.09 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Oil prices extended their losses Thursday even as OPEC hinted it might cut output at an emergency meeting next month to halt the market’s dramatic slide. But prices at the pump have been erratic.
Prices for regular unleaded in Morehead City observed early today ranged from $3.63 at the Murphy station to $3.77 per gallon at JD’s Gas. Murphy had increased its price since Thursday night, when it was charging $3.58 per gallon.
Callers to this newspaper Thursday reported prices south of here were as much as 40 cents cheaper per gallon than those charged in the county.
The Daily News of Jacksonville reported prices had dropped sharply – between 20 and 30 cents a gallon – in Onslow County within two hours Tuesday. One station was selling regular gasoline for $3.41 a gallon.
The Raleigh News & Observer reported Wednesday some parts of North Carolina had the most expensive gasoline in the continental United States, but the claim may have seemed odd to anyone traveling across the South during the past few days.
North Carolina motorists paid an average of $3.79 a gallon for regular gasoline Tuesday, according to the report. That’s 31 cents above the national average and higher than any other state except for Alaska and Hawaii.
The statewide average dropped to $3.76 a gallon Wednesday, according to the AAA Carolinas auto club, compared to a national average of $3.44 a gallon. Average prices ranged from $3.52 a gallon in the Wilmington area to $3.85 in the Raleigh area, AAA said.
Neighboring states were cheaper. South Carolina’s average was $3.62 and Virginia averaged $3.41, according to the report.
Along interstates through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, prices Monday ranged from about $3.59-$3.99 per gallon with most observed stations charging about $3.79.
Industry and government officials say the hurricanes that disrupted production in the Gulf of Mexico are responsible for the higher prices.
Much of the gasoline brought into the state while the pipeline was being refilled came on tanker truck convoys, but kept the prices higher, said Carol Gifford, spokeswoman for Charlotte-based AAA Carolinas.
“We had to ship it from Jacksonville, Fla., to Charlotte, just to get some of those stations wet,” said Pete Sodini, president of the Sanford-based Pantry chain that has 1,600 stores in 11 states. “It cost almost 30 cents a gallon to truck it from Jacksonville, but we had no choice.”
Extra deliveries at the N.C. Port of Wilmington improved supplies in the eastern part of the state and some stations had prices Monday below $3.40.
The North Carolina attorney general’s office has investigated reports of price gouging, but a spokeswoman would not say Tuesday whether there is any evidence of overcharging.
Fearful that oil prices could fall too far and harm their petroleum-dependent economies, OPEC said it would hold an extraordinary meeting Nov. 18 in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the widening economic crisis and how it’s affecting the oil market.
The 13-member cartel didn’t mention a production cut but hinted that such a move may be coming, saying it would work “to ensure that oil market fundamentals are kept in balance and market stability is maintained.”
Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $1.44 to $86.99 a barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after fluctuating between positive and negative territory earlier in the day.
The contract fell $1.11 on Wednesday to settle at $88.95 after earlier edging below $85 – a key technical level that some traders believe could lead to another plunge.
Crude has shed about $60 – or 40 percent of its value – since soaring to a record $147.27 on July 11. The massive losses come as a global financial downturn forces people and businesses everywhere to cut back.
Libyan national oil company chief Shukri Ghanem on Thursday called on oil producing nations to cut output to “protect their interest (and) stop the loss of income.”
“However, OPEC’s aim is to create a balanced market, which neither harms the producers nor the importers,” Mr. Ghanem told The Associated Press.
OPEC controls 40 percent of the world’s oil supply, but many analysts doubt it will be able to slow oil’s descent just by tightening output. OPEC’s announcement that it would cut production by 520,000 barrels a day failed to halt oil’s drop.
Peter Beutel, oil analyst at Cameron Hanover, New Canaan, Conn., said history shows that OPEC cuts can rally prices for “a week, two weeks or a month.”
“But over a longer period of time, they’re incapable of stopping major moves,” Mr. Beutel said. “We’ve been down this road before, but OPEC refuses to learn this lesson.”
Meanwhile, oil market traders continue to watch a fast-unfolding financial crisis. The U.S. Federal Reserve, along with central banks in Europe and China cut interest rates Wednesday in a bid to jump-start lending. But U.S. stocks sank in response Wednesday and continued to fall Thursday.
“Traders are expecting the world to move toward recession, with the U.S. and Europe especially a concern,” said Gerard Rigby, an energy analyst with Fuel First Consulting in Sydney. “Based on the short-term trend, you could see prices approaching $80 next week.”
Weighing on prices was evidence of falling demand in the U.S, where crude inventories jumped by 8.1 million barrels last week while gasoline stocks surged 7.2 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said Wednesday in its weekly inventory report.
Both increases far exceeded expectations, reflecting both persistently weak demand and a recovery of the Gulf Coast energy complex that had been shut down by hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
“Overall demand for oil fell for a fifth straight week and year-on-year demand fell for a 24th straight week” this year, noted trader and analyst Stephen Schork in his Schork Report. “In fact last week demand ... fell to the lowest level since the week following the 9/11/2001 attacks.”
Demand for gasoline was also weaker, falling 5.3 percentage points over the four weeks ended Oct. 3 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the EIA report.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 4.92 cents at $2.4453 a gallon while gasoline lost 4.83 cents to $2.4462 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery rose 6.5 cents to $6.807 per 1,000 cubic feet.
In London, November Brent crude fell $1.27 to $83.09 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
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