Price changes: January 10th, 2013

Hi to all,

            Here’s what I have for this week’s price changes:

·         Heating and stove oils are down by just 72/100ths of a cent.

·         Diesel fuel shows a drop of just 5/10ths of a cent.

·         Regular gasoline shows a drop of just three tenths of a cent, and…

·         Reformulated blends of gasoline show a drop of just 1.0 cents a litre.

Market highlights

·         Crude oil inventories in the US take a draw-down by 11 million barrels.

·         Gasoline inventories gain 2.2 million barrels for the week, while distillate inventories in crease close on 4.6 million barrels.

·         Major railroad investments seen to alleviate massive central US glut of oil, increasing exports to the coast by 700K barrels a day.

·         Oil prices increase slightly to $93 US WTI for the week on fiscal cliff agreement. US not being seen as out of the woods yet, as talks continue on increasing the US debt ceiling with an “end of February” deadline.

·         US domestic production increases to the point that companies south of the border are investing in new pipeline infrastructure to bring product to available US coastal refineries. It’s also leading to investment in old fashioned use of railway to get it to markets. Central US shale oil development has dropped WTI crude oil prices from $108US in March 2012 to today’s $93 US a barrel, making WTI more attractive to US buyers against Brent crude.

·         Exxon hedging its oilsands projects with the development of Hebron? New age for offshore exploration? The Bloomberg view.

That’s it for this week!

Regards for now,

George Murphy

Group researcher/Member

Consumer Group for Fair Gas Prices

Twitter: @GeorgeMurphyMHA