COM - U.S. gasoline prices may have hit summer season peak GasBuddy says

2023-04-24 19:15:16 ET

Gasoline prices at the pump fell last week for the first time in a month and may have already reached their summer season peak, GasBuddy head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan said Monday.

The average price for regular unleaded gas in the U.S. edged lower to $3.64/gal, according to GasBuddy, up 22.8 cents from a month ago but down 46.4 cents from a year ago.

Gas prices at the pump typically peak between May and June, and "with the oil market showing significant cracks in strength, we may have seen the peak in the national average already occur, a few weeks earlier than average," De Haan wrote .

While prices could rise this summer if a major hurricane hits sensitive infrastructure, "it appears the odds that the national average will miss the $4 per gallon mark are rising," according to De Haan. "It's certainly looking optimistic for motorists."

According to data from GasBuddy, the states with the lowest average gasoline prices include Mississippi at $3.11, and Louisiana and Arkansas at $3.22, while states with the highest averages include California at $4.84 and Hawaii at $4.70.

Front-month Nymex RBOB Gasoline ( XB1:COM ) for May delivery settled +1.1% to $2.6318/gal, down 2.5% so far this month.

Front-month June Nymex crude oil ( CL1:COM ) closed +1.1% to $78.76/bbl, helping lifting energy stocks to the top of the S&P sector leaderboard.

ETFs: ( NYSEARCA: USO ), ( UCO ), ( NYSEARCA: UGA ), ( DBO ), ( SCO ), ( USL ), ( DRIP ), ( GUSH ), ( USOI ), ( NRGU )

Monday's top energy stocks on the S&P 500 were Halliburton ( HAL ) +3.2% , Marathon Oil ( MRO ) +2.6% and Marathon Petroleum ( MPC ) +2.4% .

Crude oil prices have lost nearly all of the rally that followed the surprise production cuts from OPEC+ at the beginning of this month .

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