Fuel Prices Stabilize On Mixed COVID, Economic News

After weeks of a steady climb higher, fuel prices have slightly leveled off, with West Texas Crude trading around $59 per barrel in Monday’s action. Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy said oil prices declined slightly this week, thanks to a mixed bag of economic news. On the encouraging side, more coronavirus vaccinations are being distributed. However, additional COVID-19 lockdowns are being issued across Europe and the globe, and OPEC's recent announcement of a smaller than expected production increases for the month of May as weighing on the minds of investors.

DeHaan said as we look to the future, he expects to see fuel prices move up, but that could happened quickly or over the next couple of months.

“But like I said, we may see as we make the transition to summer gasoline we may see things quiet down toward the end of April and into May, but really this summer we could see more upside just dependent where the COVID pandemic is and if things continue to improve and reopen then prices may see more upside this summer.”

Data from the Energy Information Administration last week printed a decline in U.S. oil inventories, which now stand about 6% above the average range for this time of year. 

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