Diesel Fuel Prices Fell Marginally for the Week Ending April 4
US Crude Oil Inventory and Production Boost Crude Oil Prices
Diesel fuel prices
The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) reported that US on-highway diesel fuel prices fell marginally by 0.3% to $2.1 per gallon on April 4, 2016—compared to the previous week. Diesel fuel prices are 24% less than the prices for the same period in 2015. Prices fell due to a milder winter in 2015–2016 compared to 2014–2015. Diesel fuel prices and heating oil prices are driven by distillate stocks. Distillate consists of diesel fuel and heating oil. Read the next part of the series to learn more about distillate stocks.
Heating oil and diesel fuel price forecast for 2016
The EIA added that the heating season is over. So, the price data for residential heating oil will return in October 2016. The EIA forecast that diesel fuel prices will average around $2.12 per gallon in 2016. Then, the prices will increase to $2.32 per gallon in 2017, respectively. The EIA also forecast that heating oil prices could average around $1.98 per gallon in 2016 and $2.17 per gallon in 2017, respectively. High gasoline, heating oil, and distillate prices influence US refiners’ margins like Valero Energy (VLO), Phillips 66 (PSX), and Tesoro (TSO). The volatility in crude oil prices impacts oil and gas producers like Swift Energy (SFY), Denbury Resources (DNR), and WPX Energy (WPX).
Impact on ETFs
The uncertainty in oil and gas prices impacts ETFs and ETNs like the ProShares UltraShort Bloomberg Crude Oil ETF (SCO), the PowerShares DWA Energy Momentum (PXI), the DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (DTO), the Direxion Daily Energy Bear 3x (ERY), and the VelocityShares 3x Long Crude Oil ETN (UWTI).
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