HOUSTON (Reuters) -U.S. gasoline futures settled at $2.6944 per gallon on Tuesday, its lowest close since Feb. 18, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukraine crisis had roiled energy markets, pushing up fuel costs. Gasoline prices globally have also risen due to high demand, lack of Chinese exports that had bolstered supplies, and less global refining capacity from pandemic-related closings.
However, more recently, fears of a global recession and record amount of emergency oil sales from national reserves have helped cool the market.
U.S retail gasoline prices averaged $3.844 per gallon on Tuesday, well below a record $5.016 hit in June, according to American Automobile Association data, as the summer driving season in the top gasoline consumer comes to an end.
“Demand is only expected to worsen from here,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.
News that BP’s Whiting refinery restart could begin by Wednesday also impacted gasoline prices, Kilduff added.
(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
