International News Continues To Hold Oil Prices Steady

Oil prices showed virtually no movement over the past seven days, holding steady this week at $53 per barrel. Patrick DaHaan with GasBuddy.com said that lack of movement is not that surprising when comparing it to trends throughout the year. He added that over the past couple of months, international news both for and against higher oil prices, continue to negate each other.

“OPEC has mulled over production cuts, and that’s offset pessimism regarding U.S./China trade tensions, which have yet to yield a deal. There’s issues in the Middle East, with Iran of course, and last week, one more factor, we saw crude oil inventory surge close to ten million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. So, all of these factors, are kind of washing each other out.”

DeHaan said he expects more upward pressure on oil prices in the weeks and months to come.

Right now, the national diesel price comes in at $2.99 a gallon, a drop of one cent this week, while Washington’s price for diesel jumped up seven cents a gallon to $3.39, and Oregon’s average increased eight cents a gallon to $3.28.

Why the dramatic jump in diesel prices here in the northwest? DeHaan says you can blame refinery problems in California.

When it comes to local pump prices: