Uncertainty is the only certainty about gas prices

By Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — Gasoline at the pump has been fairly tame the last few weeks. The question is, will it stay that way.

According to market fundamentals — basic supply and demand — it should. After all, stockpiles of crude have been growing steadily since winter.

But there are other factors playing into  the picture that makes it difficult to say which way retail prices will go, according to AAA’s weekly fuel briefing.

This Mobil station at Military Trail and Via Delray priced its gas below the county average.

On Friday, the US dollar decreased in value against the euro, increasing the appeal of crude oil to investors and causing the price of crude to close Friday at $85.09 on the New York Mercantile Exchange — an increase of $1.85 from last week.

Positive news that new home sales increased 27 percent in the US also helped to boost the price of crude oil by increasing investor optimism that the economy is on the rebound. 

But on Tuesday, crude sank $1.76 to $82.44 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, despite a surge in consumer confidence reported by the Conference Board that normally would cause oil to rise. What happened? The Greek debt crisis weakened the euro against the dollar, causing the drop in crude.

Oil continued to fall after hours, dropping 52 cents more to $81.92 Tuesday evening.

"There are so many variables right now that can sway the price of crude oil higher or lower such as the value of the dollar, positive economic news, and basic fundamentals, that it's hard to know which direction it's going to trend," said Jessica Brady, manager, AAA Public Relations.  "While the positive economic news boosted investor confidence, we can't ignore the fact that US stockpiles climbed for the eleventh week to exceed 355 million barrels of crude oil.” 

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on gasoline prices spotted the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline at $2.849 a gallon, down slightly from the week ago average of $2.86. A month ago, gasoline averaged $2.798.

In Florida, EIA said regular was a little cheaper, averaging $2.835 a gallon, compared with $2.856 a week ago and $2.807 a month ago.

In Palm Beach County, AAA said regular was averaging $2.951 a gallon Tuesday, compared with $2.947 a week ago. In Broward, regular was running a nickel cheaper at $2.901 a gallon, up from the week-earlier average of $2.899 a gallon

Diesel, according to EIA was at $3.078 a gallon nationally, compared with $3.078 a week ago and $2.939 a month ago.