Latest news with #RBOB
Business Mayor
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- Business Mayor
Where Trump is likely getting his $1.98 gas price figure
US President Donald Trump leaves after taking questions from the press on the South Lawn upon returning to the White House in Washington, DC, on May 4, 2025. Alex Wroblewski | Afp | Getty Images President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that gasoline prices have fallen below $2 per gallon, in his push to convince the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. 'Gasoline just broke $1.98 a Gallon, lowest in years,' Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday. 'Consumers have been waiting for years to see pricing come down. NO INFLATION, THE FED SHOULD LOWER ITS RATE!!!' U.S. drivers, however, were paying $3.165 per gallon on average Monday, according to the motorist association AAA. That's an increase of nearly 2 cents from last week and about $1.18 more per gallon than Trump's claim. Gas prices have increased about 4 cents since Trump took office on Jan. 20, when consumers were paying about $3.12 on average, according to AAA data. GasBuddy has also seen gas prices rise about 2 cents over the past week to $3.12 per gallon, based on data from more than 12 million price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The increase this week is the first time drivers have paid more at the pump in nearly a month. Still, the national gas price average is down 12 cents compared with last month and 49.6 cents lower than the same period last year, according to GasBuddy data. RBOB gasoline futures RBOB Gasoline futures did touch $1.98 per gallon on Thursday, the day before Trump's post. The contract is currently trading at around $2 after hitting a low of about $1.96 during Monday's trading session. The RBOB contract, however, does not reflect what drivers are currently paying at the pump. The contract tracks wholesale, unfinished gasoline before other costs are included such as mixing in ethanol to produce retail gas. Read More Roadmap to saving enough energy to power 1.25 million homes When asked by CNBC whether the president was referencing RBOB, Trump administration officials pointed to the contract's recent price action. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said only analysts, wholesalers and fuel buyers at large store chains care about RBOB. 'That price is not inclusive of anything. It excludes taxes, it excludes [pipeline] tariffs, transportation, the cost of doing business, credit card fees — I mean all of it,' he said. Stock chart icon RBOB Gasoline 'It does not come anywhere near explaining what consumers are paying,' the analyst added. 'It would be irrelevant to the consumer to know what the price of RBOB is because they're not paying the wholesale price of RBOB.' Average pump price may fall below $3 a gallon According to De Haan, there are a few places where a consumer might pay less. Gas prices are in the $2.20 range at some individual stations in states such as Texas and Tennessee, he said 'Nothing at retail level that I've seen in the last couple of weeks has been below $2 a gallon,' he said. However, De Haan said he has seen some individual payments of $1.99 per gallon, but these reflect loyalty point redemptions that consumers use to reduce what they pay at the pump. 'In an apples-to-apples comparison, we have not seen a retail price available to everyone below about $2.20 a gallon, but what we have seen is consumers can lower their prices through the use of points and other promotions,' De Haan said. Read More Drought, heat waves worsen West Coast air pollution inequality Gas prices in the U.S. could soon dip below $3 per gallon as refinery maintenance wraps up and supplies increase in the U.S., De Haan said. Prices at the pump are currently at the lowest levels since 2021, De Haan said. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said gas prices hit record lows during Trump's first term and are falling 'again thanks to President Trump unleashing American energy.' Gas prices have dropped over the last month as crude oil has plummeted on recession fears due to Trump's tariffs and OPEC+ producers rapidly bringing more supply to the market. 'While some of the damage done by Bidenomics is still lingering, President Trump's economic agenda is lowering prices for American families at lightning speed,' Rogers said.
CNBC
05-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Where Trump is likely getting his $1.98 gas price figure
President Donald Trump has claimed that gasoline prices have fallen below $2 per gallon, in his push to convince the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. "Gasoline just broke $1.98 a Gallon, lowest in years," Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday. "Consumers have been waiting for years to see pricing come down. NO INFLATION, THE FED SHOULD LOWER ITS RATE!!!" U.S. drivers, however, were paying $3.165 per gallon on average Monday, according to the motorist association AAA. That's an increase of nearly two cents from last week and about $1.18 more per gallon than Trump's claim. GasBuddy has also seen gas prices rise about 2 cents over the past week to $3.12 per gallon, based on data from more than 12 million price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country. The increase this week is the first time drivers have paid more at the pump in nearly a month. Still, the national gas price average is down 12 cents compared to last month and 49.6 cents lower than the same-period last year, according to GasBuddy data. RBOB Gasoline futures did touch $1.98 per gallon on Thursday, the day before Trump's post. It is currently trading at around $2 after hitting a low of about $1.96 during Monday's trading session. The RBOB contract, however, does not reflect what drivers are currently paying at the pump. The contract tracks wholesale, unfinished gasoline before other costs are included such as mixing in ethanol to produce retail gas. When asked by CNBC whether the president was referencing RBOB, Trump administration officials pointed to the contract's recent price action. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy said only analysts, wholesalers and fuel buyers at large store chains care about RBOB. "That price is not inclusive of anything. It excludes taxes, it excludes tariffs, transportation, the cost of doing business, credit card fees — I mean all of it," he said. "It does not come anywhere near explaining what consumers are paying," the analyst added. "It would be irrelevant to the consumer to know what the price of RBOB is because they're not paying the wholesale price of RBOB." According to De Haan, there are a few places where a consumer might pay less. Gas prices are in the $2.20 range at some individual stations in states such as Texas and Tennessee, he said "Nothing at retail level that I've seen in the last couple of weeks has been below $2 a gallon," he said. However, he said he has seen some individual payments of $1.99 per gallon, but these reflect loyalty point redemptions that consumers use to reduce what they pay at the pump. "In an apples to apples comparison, we have not seen a retail price available to everyone below about $2.20 a gallon, but we have seen is consumers can lower their prices through the use of points and other promotions," De Haan said. Gas prices in the U.S. could soon dip below $3 per gallon as refinery maintenance wraps up and supplies increase in the U.S., De Haan said. Prices at the pump are currently at the lowest levels since 2021, De Haan said. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said gas prices hit record lows during Trump's first term and are falling "again thanks to President Trump unleashing American energy." Gas prices have fallen over the last month as crude oil has plummeted on recession fears due to Trump's tariffs and OPEC+ producers rapidly bringing more supply to the market. "While some of the damage done by Bidenomics is still lingering, President Trump's economic agenda is lowering prices for American families at lightning speed," Rogers said.
Mid East Info
18-03-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
Silver and copper stands out in week of continued energy weakness – Saxo Bank MENA - Middle East Business News and Information
Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy, Saxo Bank Despite a 1.3% rebound in the Bloomberg Commodity Index, hedge funds continued their third consecutive week of net selling, still reacting to the late-February correction that saw the index drop 4.6% before recovering. The total net long across 27 major futures contracts has declined by 44% during this time after hitting a 2-1/2-year high, led by selling across energy and grains. Energy: The sector's selloff extended to a seventh week, with the net long position down 62% to 224K contracts during this time—half the three-year average. Economic concerns pressured fuel markets, increasing gas oil shorts while NY-traded RBOB gasoline and ULSD diesel positions were cut to near neutral. Gasoline saw fresh short selling (-15.2K), and ULSD experienced long liquidation (-8.7K). Consequently, leaving the RBOB contract mostly exposed to short covering and it partly explains why RBOB is up 3.1% since last Tuesday, while ULSD is unchanged. Metals: Gold remained steady before surging to $3,000 per ounce at week's end, with minimal hedge fund activity seen during the reporting week. Silver (+2.4%) and copper (+4.6%) gains contributed to increased net longs in both. Grains: Corn's 4.2% rally coincided with net selling as hedge funds cut bullish bets, fearing China's counter tariffs would hurt exports. The soybean short position shrank, while wheat remained under pressure despite rotation between Chicago and Kansas contracts. Softs: Sugar's volatility challenged hedge funds, with a 20% rally through February followed by a sharp correction and rebound. Overall, these sharp and sudden price swings saw the net long position fall 47% in a week when sugar gained 3%. Forex: In the forex market, a 2.2% slump in the Dollar Index supported a continued reduction in speculative long dollar positions. Overall, an eighth consecutive week of net USD selling reduced the gross long versus eight IMM futures to a five-month low at USD 5 billion, down from a January USD 35 billion peak just before a number of Trump policy announcements triggered a major and ongoing reversal. Besides continued demand for GBP, which in the past six weeks has seen the net flip from a short to a 29k long, the main driver once again was strong demand for euros, which saw the net flip back to a net long for the first time since October. In the past four weeks alone, speculators bought 77.5k contracts or EUR 9.7 billion. The JPY long, meanwhile, held steady at a record high at 134k contracts or USD 11.4 billion equivalent, while the MXN long reached a three-month high.
