New York Harbor wholesale gasoline traded at $3.329 a gallon on September 29, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That was the lowest of the six trading days in the agency’s latest daily price series, and the fourth straight daily decline since a high of $3.686 on September 23. The number is a spot price, meaning the going rate for gasoline bought on the wholesale market that day. It is not what a driver paid. The weekly pump survey from the same agency shows retail gasoline far above it, which raises the question of whether pump prices will follow the wholesale market down.
Wholesale prices move every trading day, and a single day’s quote can look different a week later. The September 29 price is the final one in the table the EIA released on September 30, and the agency lists October 7 as the date of its next update. Until that release, $3.329 is the latest New York Harbor price the EIA has published, and the days before it show a steady slide rather than a one-day dip.
Six days of New York Harbor gasoline prices
The EIA’s daily spot price table lists New York Harbor regular gasoline at $3.551 a gallon on September 22 and $3.686 on September 23. It then eased to $3.644 on September 24, $3.493 on September 25 and $3.418 on September 28 before closing the series at $3.329 on September 29. The Sept 29 figure is that single day’s wholesale price, and the table shows no trading days after it. The table labels the New York Harbor series as regular gasoline, the grade most drivers buy at the pump.
The same table shows that the wholesale market looks very different from one coast to the other. Gulf Coast regular gasoline went from $3.891 on September 22 to $4.126 on September 23 and ended at $3.631 on September 29, following the New York Harbor pattern at a higher level. Los Angeles regular gasoline moved against it. It traded at $4.139 on September 22, climbed to $4.561 on September 25 and was still $4.396 on September 29. Within the same week, the West Coast price rose while the other two fell.
The wholesale quote is only one part of what a driver pays, and the latest weekly figures show the distance between the two. The EIA’s weekly gasoline update puts the U.S. average retail price for regular at $4.354 a gallon on October 5, down 11.1 cents from $4.465 on September 28. For the East Coast it lists $4.147, and for New York State $4.380. Anyone filling a tank in the New York area therefore paid more than $4 at the pump in the same week the wholesale market was trading near $3.33, and the question is how much of the wholesale decline will reach stations.
Wholesale gasoline prices keep changing and the pump price is still catching up; The Retirement Money Brief will cover the next step in plain English when it happens.
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Why the pump price trails the wholesale price
The wholesale price is only one slice of the pump price. In its explanation of gasoline price factors, the EIA says the largest component of the retail price is the cost of crude oil. In 2025 crude was 51.4 percent of the retail price, refining costs and profits 14.3 percent, distribution and marketing 17.8 percent, and federal and state taxes 16.6 percent. The agency adds that the price at the pump also reflects local market conditions and factors such as the fueling location and the marketing strategy of the station owner.
That breakdown explains why a fall in the New York Harbor price does not translate into an equal fall at the pump. Taxes and distribution and marketing costs are separate slices of the price, so they stay in place while the wholesale quote moves. The EIA’s weekly survey says the national average fell 11.1 cents in the week ending October 5, with the Lower Atlantic and Midwest regions posting the biggest weekly drops and the West Coast staying relatively stable. That pattern fits the daily table, where the Los Angeles quote was the one that did not fall.
The weekly survey also shows how far prices have risen over the past year. The EIA lists the October 5 national price of $4.354 against $3.124 a year earlier, an increase of $1.230, or 39.4 percent. Even after the latest weekly decline, the agency’s own summary says prices remain substantially elevated compared with year-ago levels. A wholesale price of $3.329 sounds low beside $4.354, but it is a different measure, and the wholesale side has been falling from the week’s high rather than sitting at a bargain.
How the August consumer price report treated gasoline
The Bureau of Labor Statistics put a figure on what the higher fuel prices did to household costs before the latest decline. In its August consumer price index release, published September 11, the agency said the index for gasoline rose 3.9 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis and was up 27.4 percent over the 12 months ending in August. The energy index increased 2.1 percent in the month, and the all-items index rose 3.4 percent over the same 12 months.
Gasoline therefore rose far faster than prices overall. The EIA said in its latest outlook that U.S. retail gasoline and diesel prices rose sharply in September, with gasoline averaging $4.35 a gallon and diesel $6.29 a gallon.
Crude oil matters here too. Brent, the international benchmark, traded at $113.96 a barrel on September 29, the same day New York Harbor gasoline was at its low for the week. Brent was lower on September 29 than the $119.97 it traded at on September 28, so gasoline and crude fell together that day.
Following wholesale gasoline toward the pump
The EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook, released October 6, is the official forecast to watch. It puts the 2026 average for retail regular gasoline at $3.91 a gallon and the 2027 average at $3.56. The agency raised its global oil price forecast from the previous month, saying it assumes oil flows from the Middle East will remain constrained through the fourth quarter of 2026. It also pointed to extreme tightness in diesel markets as a source of upward pressure on prices.
The data to follow are the EIA’s own releases. The daily spot table is due to be updated on October 7 and will show whether New York Harbor gasoline kept falling below $3.329 after September 29 or turned back up. The weekly retail survey, dated October 5 in its latest edition, will show how much of the wholesale decline has reached stations. The gap between the two numbers is the clearest measure of the lag.
The agency’s outlook is built on Middle East assumptions, and it says the attacks on the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia highlight the potential for continued volatility in physical oil flows and oil prices. If the October 7 spot table shows the New York Harbor price holding near $3.3, the decline from September 23 will have lasted into a second week. If it shows a rebound, the weekly pump decline of 11.1 cents may prove short.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Money Overview’s editorial team.
