According to the Energy Information Association, the U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline totaled $2.59 per gallon as of December 21, 2009, one cent lower than last week but 94 cents above a year ago. The West Coast, comprised of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, continued as the highest regional price, dwindling only slightly to stay at $2.85 per gallon. The average price for regular grade in California moved slightly higher to $2.91 per gallon, a cent over last week and $1.11 per gallon more than last year.
    The retail diesel fuel price declined for the seventh straight week, falling 2 cents to $2.73 per gallon, but still 36 cents higher than last year. The West Coast price fell 3 cents to $2.83 per gallon. California prices slipped 2 cents to fall to $2.89 per gallon.
     The EIA also reports that as the end of 2009 approaches, retail gasoline prices sit squarely in the middle of a 5-year range, having slowly declined over the last two months. The U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline fell to $2.59 per gallon as of December 21, 2009, a drop of more than 10 cents from the year's high of $2.69 per gallon seen on November 2. Although the average gasoline price is currently 94 cents higher than a year ago (when prices had fallen to their lowest level in nearly 4 years), it is slightly below the average of $2.65 per gallon over the 2005-2009 period.
     Overall, gasoline prices in the second half of 2009 have been relatively steady in comparison to recent years. After the roller-coaster ride of 2008, which saw a high of $4.11 per gallon, and a low of $1.61, this year has been comparatively calm. Gasoline prices in 2009 rose more than $1 per gallon from early January to late June, but since then have stayed between $2.46 and $2.69, a range of only 23 cents.
     As for crude oil, at $73.30, the price for a barrel of domestic crude is $70.13 more than this time last year.  Once again, we note that crude prices seem to be stable around the $70 to $75 range. Domestic production is up to 5.524 million barrels per day - more than half a million barrels more than one year ago.  Crude oil imports, however, are down from 9.118 million barrels per day at this time last year to 7.707 million barrels per day last week.  A marked decrease on foreign oil is the real silver lining, and the increase in domestic production bodes well for our economy.

Chris Nobles
Commercial Fueling
Nella Oil Company