US gasoline costs fall as hurricane’s path likely spares Eastern refineries

US gasoline prices fell on Friday as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said it looked likely that Hurricane Joaquin will remain offshore in the Atlantic, missing the US East Coast entirely.

Prices had climbed by as much as 4.1% on Thursday amid concern that production at refineries along the East Coast would be disrupted by Joaquin.

The storm, now packing winds of 130 miles/hour, was tracking near the Bahamas while pounding it with wind, rain and high seas. However, updated forecasts showed the storm curving to the northeast and out to sea, rather than tracking north toward the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the US, as had been previously expected.

Gasoline futures for November delivery dropped 4.83 cents, or 3.5%, on Friday to $1.3185/gal in New York.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures also fell on Friday after government data showed the US adding 142,000 jobs last month, compared with forecasts for a gain of near 200,000. The weaker-than-expected jobs report was seen as a sign that the US could be more affected by the global economic slowdown and financial-market turmoil than previously believed.

Additional reporting by Mark Shenk of Bloomberg