Average US retail gasoline price exceeds $3/gal for first time since late 2014

Disruptions to Colonial Pipeline operations prompted an increase in the average US retail price for regular grade gasoline (retail gasoline price) to $3.03/gal on May 17, marking the first time retail gasoline prices averaged more than $3/gal since Oct. 27, 2014, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. The average retail gasoline price in the Lower Atlantic (PADD 1C) increased 10¢/gal from the previous week to $2.88/gal.

The increased retail price for gasoline in the Lower Atlantic resulted from outages at many regional gas stations, which occurred due to the pipeline disruption that hindered supply and increased gasoline purchases in response to station outages. On May 17, New England (PADD 1A) and Central Atlantic (PADD 1B) retail gasoline prices averaged $2.93/gal and $3.04/gal, respectively, up 6¢/gal and 5¢/gal from the previous week. The Midwest (PADD 2) and Gulf Coast (PADD 3) retail gasoline prices averaged $2.91/gal and $2.78/gal, respectively, up 5¢/gal and 11¢/gal from the previous week.

After shutting down Friday, May 7, Colonial Pipeline restarted some pipeline operations on Wednesday, May 12 (OGJ Online, May 13, 2021). On Saturday, May 15, the company said it had returned the system to normal operations. Shipments through Colonial Pipeline move about 5 mph, so some markets may need to rely on regional inventories until fuel can move through the Colonial Pipeline.

EIA’s most recent Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) includes weekly regional closing inventory data for the East Coast and its subregions as of May 7, which include gasoline inventories just prior to the pipeline shutdown. On May 7, total motor gasoline stocks in the Lower Atlantic region were 24.6 million bbl, 7% less than the 5-year average. Motor gasoline stocks in the New England and Central Atlantic regions combined totaled 40.0 million bbl, about equal to the 5-year average.