Oil Prices Unchanged Remain Near Eight Week Highs

No news is the news when it comes to oil and fuel prices. Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy.com said oil prices started this week around $56 a barrel which is virtually unchanged from this time last week.

“Still hovering close to eight week highs on the price of oil, but largely they’ve been kind of consistent, $55 to $57 a barrel.”

DeHaan noted he has never seen a fall where oil prices moved so little following the conclusion of the summer drive season. As in weeks past, the trade war with China continues to put pressure on oil prices, holding them in place. DeHaan added if the U.S. and China can agree to Phase One next month, oil prices are likely to move higher, but in the meantime, he doesn’t see much reason for oil prices to move much one way or another. However, he anticipates diesel will be very bullish as we head into the New Year.

“That’s simply because the IMO’s specification changes that take affect January 1^st, that require ocean going vessels to switch to cleaner burning ultra-low sulfur diesel products. So, having said that, gas prices are down in the last week, over the same time frame, the average price of diesel in Washington state has declined just about ½ a penny.”

DeHaan added he does not see much if any downward pressure on diesel prices into early 2020. The national average for a gallon of diesel held steady this week at $3.01, Washington’s average dropped one cent to $3.57, while Oregon’s price of diesel fell two cents to $3.47 a gallon.

Here are some of the lowest diesel price we could find across the Inland Northwest: