US gasoline prices hit a nine-month peak as drivers took to the roads on holiday travel, crude oil prices kept climbing and refiners further cut fuel production due to weak margins, reported Reuters.
Prices at the pump topped USD2.25 a gallon in end-December, according to the American Automobile Association, the highest since March when COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. Supplies fell to the lowest in a month at 236.6 million barrels, according to US government data.
US rush-hour traffic this holiday season reached pandemic highs, with a congestion index posting the biggest month-on-month increase since July, according to location technology company TomTom. Still, no US city is above 2019 levels.
Stay-at-home orders to stop the spread of COVID-19 have weighed on fuel demand all year, sinking demand and prices for gasoline and other motor fuels. Refineries were running at average utilization rates below 80% last year, the latest Energy Information Administration data showed.
Major refiners Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell Plc were trimming output on weak profits. Contributing to the retail price rise: oil has rallied to around 10-month highs as vaccine distributions expand.
