Oil prices lost significant ground last week over concerns about rising COVID-19 cases, including President Donald Trump testing positive for the virus. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed last week at nearly $37 per barrel, a drop from $40.36 last Monday.
GasBuddy reports the national average price of gasoline has fallen in the last week, posting a decline of 0.7 cents per gallon over the last week to $2.17.
Meanwhile, the national average price of diesel is unchanged from a week ago and stands at $2.38 per gallon. However, Patrick De Hann of GasBuddy says, “Friday saw the highest gasoline demand since Labor Day,” suggesting, “we may see an end to the possibility of future declines.”
Government data released last week showed a small decline in oil inventories of two million barrels for the prior week, while remaining about 13 percent above the five-year average for this time of year. Inventories now stand some 70 million barrels, or 16.5 percent, above their year-ago level.