CSP, September 14, 2026: Crude oil prices jump even higher Retailers forfeit half their gasoline margin: Lundberg

CSP, August 24, 2026: Oil prices are up again Pump price is likely to jump soon: Lundberg

CSP, August 11, 2026: Gasoline prices are up again but headed for a fall Retailer margin climbs out of danger zone: Lundberg

CSP, July 27, 2026: Pump prices rise 22 cents per gallon Retailers must hike prices further to survive: Lundberg

CSP, July 14, 2026: Pump price drops 14 cents, retail margin drops 7 cents Is a gasoline price increase forming?: Lundberg

CSP, June 29, 2026: Gas prices drop 23 cents in 2 weeks U.S. average for regular grade falls to $4.01 per gallon, with more cuts expected as wholesale prices continue declining: Lundberg

CSP, September 14, 2026: Crude oil prices jump even higher Retailers forfeit half their gasoline margin: Lundberg Sep. 14, 2026 CSPDailyNews.com Article: The national average retail price of regular grade gasoline rose 10.8 cents per gallon in the past three weeks to $4.254 per gallon. This is the amount expected in August, as indicated by what oil and wholesale gasoline prices and market conditions were doing at the time. Now those indicators are for more of the same—much more. The near-month closing futures price of the U.S. benchmark crude oil West Texas Intermediate was $100.05 per barrel on Sept. 11, up $12.99 during the three-week period. That is the equivalent of 31 cents per gallon. The Lundberg weighted wholesale buying price of regular grade was $3.489 per gallon on Sept. 11, up 27.6 cents per gallon in the past three weeks The upshot for gasoline retailers is a loss of about half the retail margin. Margin crashed by 16.8 cents, leaving an impossibly low 13.5 cents per gallon for retailers to cover their costs of doing business. Retailers will be urgently attempting to pass through their fuel purchasing costs as soon as possible. They will have to do this all while facing great street price competition as all retailers chase sales in a gasoline market whose demand is shrinking due to high prices. Gasoline stocks shrank further. Refiners' combined utilization rate of capacity rose even higher, to a remarkable 97.8%. Costs have dropped slightly with the lower vapor pressure regulations adjusted seasonally, but it is a tiny price factor in the face of intensified global oil supply threats. The latest foray of Yemen's Houthi rebels into Red Sea territory, reportedly seizing a key island and forcing closure of Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline that moves oil without use of the Strait of Hormuz, detonated the oil market causing its latest price rise. Near term, we may see pump prices rise a further 20 cents per gallon, thereby hurting gasoline demand that is already running scared. The silver lining is the performance of the entire U.S. downstream—refiners, distributors, retailers—so successfully serving the ultimate customer, the motorist. Trilby Lundberg is publisher of the Lundberg Survey of U.S. fuel markets. Lundberg Survey Inc. is based in Camarillo, California. Click here for previous Lundberg Survey reports in CSP Daily News.

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