Gasoline futures touch a seven-month high

…”Just as the market was trying to digest exactly what this love-fest meant for the energy complex, the Department of Energy blindsided us with a wildly bullish 5-million-barrel drop in gasoline supply,” said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Alaron Trading.

“For gas consumers, the DOE report can best be described as disturbing at the very least,” he said in an e-mailed note to clients. “Gasoline supplies are tightening at a disturbing rate and that could mean only bad news for the consumer as we get ready to start a new summer-driving season.”


On Wednesday, Energy Department data showed a 5 million barrel decline in supplies of motor gasoline for the week ended March 30 — much bigger than the market was expecting. Crude supplies rose a bigger-than-expected 4.3 million barrels while distillates were unchanged in the latest week

At the retail level, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline climbed to $2.706 Thursday, up 8.7% from a month ago, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.

Indeed, “the jury is out and the market is focused on short supplies of gasoline and the difficult turnarounds that are occurring in our nation’s refineries,” said Ed O’Connor, president of Optionable.

MarketWatch