Gasoline prices today (March 11): Regaining momentum

World oil prices

Oil prices rose more than 1% after better-than-expected US jobs data, although both oil benchmarks fell more than 3% for the week on worries about the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates.

Brent crude rose $1.19, or 1.5%, to $82.78 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 96 cents, or 1.3%, to $76.68 a barrel.

Expectations of further interest rate hikes in the world's largest economy and in Europe have clouded the global growth outlook and sent both Brent and WTI crude prices down for a third consecutive week.

However, the Fed may have less reason to raise interest rates as sharply as some had feared, after a government report released on March 10 raised hopes of cooling inflation amid a normalizing labor market.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned of higher and potentially faster interest rate hikes, saying the central bank was wrong to think that initial inflation was “transitory.” Many analysts had expected the Fed to raise rates by 50 basis points at its March 21-22 monetary policy meeting instead of just 25 basis points.

Commenting on the recent oil price movements, Price Group analyst Phil Flynn said, “Oil prices are fluctuating wildly due to renewed concerns about the Fed’s rate hike.”

A stronger US dollar also makes oil more expensive, curbing the rise in oil prices.

Meanwhile, global stock markets, which often move in tandem with oil prices, hit a two-month low as investors dumped bank shares.

According to Reuters , the US non-farm payrolls increased by 311,000 jobs in February, higher than the expectation of 205,000 jobs. This is likely to ensure that the Fed will raise interest rates for a longer time.

On the supply side, major oil producers Saudi Arabia and Iran, both members of OPEC, have re-established ties after days of previously undisclosed talks in Beijing, China.

Data from Baker Hughes showed the US oil rig count fell by two to 590 this week, the lowest since June 2022.

Investors are closely watching export cuts from Russia, which has decided to cut oil production by 500,000 barrels per day in March.

On March 9, US President Joe Biden proposed a budget that would eliminate billions of dollars in subsidies for the oil and gas industry.

Money managers cut their net long positions in U.S. crude futures and options in the week to February 21, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said.

Domestic gasoline prices

Domestic retail prices of gasoline on March 11 are as follows:

E5 RON 92 gasoline is not more than 22,421 VND/liter.

RON 95 gasoline is not more than 23,325 VND/liter.

Diesel oil not more than 20,255 VND/liter.

Kerosene not more than 20,474 VND/liter.

Fuel oil not exceeding 14,555 VND/kg.

The above domestic gasoline prices will be adjusted at the joint price management session of the Ministry of Finance - Ministry of Industry and Trade on March 13. With the fluctuations in gasoline prices in recent times, gasoline prices are expected to increase slightly. However, because world gasoline prices experienced a decrease this week, domestic gasoline prices may remain stable.

MAI HUONG

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