Unleaded Gas Futures Poised to Set Record

Unleaded gas futures may be ready to set all time highs this year if supplies continue to lag behind demand and political conflicts with Iran escalate.

Unleaded gas futures are battling a limited refining capacity because a new refinery has not been built in the US in over 30 years. Environmental concerns and exorbitant start up costs have made companies unwilling to risk building a new refinery in the US. Currently in the US there is more than enough crude oil to go around. The problem is no one can run their cars or heat their homes with crude oil. Crude oil of course must be refined into a more usable product such as unleaded gas and heating oil before it can be utilized. But, there are not enough refineries to do it.

New government mandates that disallow the use of MTBE and replace it with ethanol have caused many disruptions in the flow of unleaded gas from the refiner to the end user. Any disruptions of the supply of unleaded gas from point A to point B has often caused extreme price increases in unleaded gas futures prices in recent years. These disruptions have included hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, conflict and production cuts in Nigeria, Iran and other crude oil producing countries, refinery fires and maintenance issues. When supplies are this tight any problems in refinement or distribution can cause unleaded gas futures prices to explode.

Are Americans just going to have to get used to the tight unleaded gasoline supplies or will a new refinery get built anytime soon? Learn more about unleaded gas futures and options at www.tkfutures.com/unleaded_gas.htm

The author of this article is a 13 year veteran of the unleaded gas futures and options market and the president of T & K Futures and Options Inc. Investing in unleaded gas futures and options is very risky and only risk capital should be used.