MARKETWIRE ALERTS

MARKETWIRE ALERTS 

MarketWire Afternoon News for October 15^th

Updated at 5:00 PM ET 

HEADLINES:

— AAR: Petroleum Carloads Rise 2.4% Week Ending Oct. 11

— BTS: Aug Freight Shipments Down 0.1% on Month, Flat Y-o-Y

— EIA: U.S. Retail Regular Gasoline Price Falls 6.3cts W-o-W

— EIA: US Diesel Prices Drop 4.6cts on Week

— Chevron’s El Segundo Refinery Reports Non-Emergency Flare

NEWS:

AAR: Petroleum Carloads Rise 2.4% Week Ending Oct. 11

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) data show petroleum and petroleum product carloads totaled 10,884 in the week ending October 11, up by 2.4% from the same week a year ago.

Year to date, petroleum and petroleum products carloads totaled 423,181, down by 1.1% from the corresponding period of the prior year, AAR reported this week.

AAR reports total U.S. weekly rail traffic at 498,462 carloads and intermodal units in the week profiled, down by 1.3% compared with the same week last year.

Total carloads for the week-ended October 11 reached 224,562, up by 1.2% compared to the same week last year, while U.S. weekly intermodal volume was 273,900 containers and trailers, a 3.3% decrease from the previous year.

For the first 41 weeks of 2025, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 9,101,809 carloads, up by 2.1% compared to the same period of last year, and 11,126,167 intermodal units, up 3.4% from the prior year.

Total combined U.S. traffic for the first 41 weeks of 2025 was 20,227,976 carloads and intermodal units, reflecting a 2.8% increase compared to last year.

BTS: Aug Freight Shipments Down 0.1% on Month, Flat Y-o-Y

The Freight Transportation Services Index, which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, dipped by 0.1% to 138.9 in August, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) at the U.S. Department of Transportation said Wednesday (10/15).

On a yearly basis though, the index remained unchanged.

Last month’s drop comes after the index rose by 0.8% month-on-month in July while sliding by 0.1% compared to the same period last year.

In its latest release, BTS revised the July freight index to 139 from the 138 reading it gave earlier.

The agency noted that August’s decline reflected decreases in air freight, rail carloads, rail intermodal and pipeline activity, and increases in higher trucking and waterborne movements.

The August decrease also came on the back of mixed readings for other indicators.

The Federal Reserve Board Industrial Production Index was up by 0.1% in August, reflecting increases by 0.2% in manufacturing and by 0.9% in mining and a decline by 2% in utilities.

Housing starts were down by 8.5% while personal income gained by 0.1%.

While the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing index rose by 0.7% in August to 48.7, it still indicated a contraction. Only a reading above 50 indicates an expansion in U.S. manufacturing.

Notwithstanding the drop in freight index, the Passenger Transportation Services Index, reported by the BTS since May, rose by 0.6% month-on-month in August, rising for the first month after two months of decline.

The passenger index also rose by 1.4% from a year earlier. The index measures passenger transportation volumes on local transit, intercity rail and air transportation.

The Combined Freight and Passenger Index rose by 0.2% month-on-month and by 0.5% versus last year.

BTS estimates air freight and air passenger readings one month ahead of reported day.

EIA: U.S. Retail Regular Gasoline Price Falls 6.3cts W-o-W

 Retail regular gasoline prices fell sharply in the week ended October 13, led by declines across all major regions, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed Wednesday (10/15).

The national average for retail regular gasoline dropped by 6.3cts to $3.061 gallon week-on-week, and was 11cts lower from the same week last year.

East Coast PADD 1 gasoline price fell by 3.2cts to $2.952 gallon as of October 13, and was 9.0cts lower compared with the corresponding week from a year ago.

Within the East Coast, New England PADD 1A declined by 2.8cts to $2.98 gallon, and was 6.8cts below the prior-year level.

Central Atlantic PADD 1B dipped by 0.8cts to $3.104 gallon, and 11.2cts from a year back.

Lower Atlantic PADD 1C fell by 4.8cts to $2.849 gallon, and 8.2cts year-on-year.

Midwest PADD 2 average gasoline price dropped by 12.1cts to $2.812 gallon, and 28.8cts from the same period a year earlier.

Gulf Coast PADD 3 gasoline price posted the largest decline, tumbling 9.6cts to $2.623 gallon. Year-on-year, it fell 11.2cts.

Rocky Mountain PADD 4 gasoline fell by 1.7cts to $3.049 gallon, and was down 20.9cts from a year ago.

West Coast PADD 5 gasoline eased 1.3cts to $4.213 gallon but was 16.6cts higher than a year earlier.

West Coast less California gasoline fell by 3.3cts to $3.949 gallon in the profiled week, while rising 30.6cts above the same week last year.

EIA: US Diesel Prices Drop 4.6cts on Week

 The national average price for retail diesel fuel declined by 4.6cts as of Monday (10/13), marking the third consecutive weekly decrease, with lower prices recorded across all U.S. regions, according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration.

The national average for retail diesel fuel fell by 4.6cts to $3.665 gallon. That was 3.4cts higher than the price from the same period a year earlier.

Gulf Coast PADD 3 posted the largest regional drop, down by 6.5cts to $3.299 gallon from last week, and 3.8cts lower year-on-year.

Midwest PADD 2 saw a weekly decline of 6.4cts to $3.606 gallon as of October 13, down by 4.5cts compared to the same period a year earlier.

East Coast PADD 1 average diesel prices eased by 1.4cts to $3.721 gallon as of October 13, priced 13.5cts higher than a year earlier. New England PADD 1A slipped by 0.9cts to $3.949 gallon during the same period, Central Atlantic PADD 1B declined by 0.9cts to $3.877 gallon, and Lower Atlantic PADD 1C decreased by 1.7cts to $3.639 gallon.

Rocky Mountain PADD 4 prices fell by 1.3cts to $3.658 gallon, up by 2.3cts from the same period a year earlier.

West Coast PADD 5 diesel prices slipped by 3.5cts to $4.464 gallon, standing 19.0cts above the same period a year earlier. West Coast less California dropped by 3.8cts to $4.052 gallon, up by 17.8cts compared to a year earlier, while California decreased by 3.1cts to $4.940 gallon, 20.6cts higher compared to a year earlier.

Chevron’s El Segundo Refinery Reports Non-Emergency Flare

Chevron reported on Wednesday (10/15) a non-emergency flaring event at its 269,000 bpd El Segundo, California, refinery that began at 3:41 a.m. PT, according to a filing with the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The cause of the flare was listed as non-emergency flaring, with no estimated stop time available as of Wednesday morning.

Chevron has reported multiple flaring incidents, including emergency flaring events on October 9 and October 14, at El Segundo following a massive explosion on October 2 affecting the Isomax 7 unit — a hydrocracker critical for producing jet fuel and gasoline.

The El Segundo refinery is a key supplier of transportation fuels for Southern California markets, including Los Angeles and San Diego. It provides about 20% of Southern California’s gasoline and 40% of its jet fuel.