A Lundberg study shows the fuel industry adjusts to market demand. In the United States, profit margins were trimmed to raise sales, which took the price of a gallon of gasoline down by 27 cents in the past three weeks. Lundberg, a Camarillo company operating from California, based its study on information gathered at nearly 2,500 gas stations.
The first survey provided data for the time between Labor Day and Aug. 21 and is followed by a second survey that illustrates how average gasoline prices fell from $2.71 to $2.44 from Aug. 21 to Sept. 11.
According to Lundberg, a general accord between gas producers and retailers lowered the crude oil prices. A boost in gasoline supply throughout the U.S. and a rethinking of profit margins made it possible for both providers and sellers to take pressure off the consumers and trim the prices.
When comparing with last year's prices, the difference is notable; the average price was $3.46 a gallon, $1.02 higher than the one at the pump today.
"It is a big historical discount to last year," says Trilby Lundberg. "Consumers are winners at this point."
The estimated trend is for prices to keep decreasing, says Lundberg. In the study, the firm estimates cuts of another 4 to 10 cents in the next weeks.
Anti-smog regulations are changing on Sept. 15, and this means that gas producers will be able to use higher vapor pressures in winter, leading to the decrease in production cost for a lot of refineries in the country.
Lundberg points out that in the 48 states covered by the survey, drivers in Indianapolis witnessed one of the greatest declines in the last three weeks. $2.13 a gallon was the best price as BP PLC's Whiting, Indiana finished its maintenance and started production again.
Gasoline was most expensive in Los Angeles, with drivers spending $3.31 a gallon, as opposed to Charleston, South Carolina, where the average reached $1.94. Long Island, New York was somewhere in between, with $2.51.
According to government provided data, the national stockpiles of fuel reached a total of 214.5 million barrels.
