Energy indicators

Gasoline is up 38.6% and oil 54.0% over a year; natural gas, by contrast, is calm. It is a rise people feel in their wallets and in inflation.

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Energy tab score

6/10Caution
average 6.00

Gasoline is up 38.6% and oil 54.0% over a year; natural gas, by contrast, is calm. It is a rise people feel in their wallets and in inflation.

The 3 indicators

Gasoline$4.333WTI crude oil$96.245Natural gas (Henry Hub)$3.0310

What would turn it red

  • Two of the three indicators red at once. Today: 1.
  • Oil rising more than 60% in a year (today +54.0%) or collapsing more than 60%.
  • Gasoline rising more than 45% in a year: deep red. Today: +38.6%.

The score is the number of bars lit: 10 is healthiest and 1 is worst. The orange spark marks where it is today.

Gasoline Prices

1W
-0.02
-0.46%
1M
+0.01
+0.23%
3M
+0.48
+12.47%
6M
+0.21
+5.10%
1Y
+1.27
+41.50%
Last
4.33 $/gal
Previous
4.35 $/gal
All-time: 0.9 – 5 $/gal · since Aug 90 · now at 83% of that range

Gasoline Prices stands at 4.33$/gal (Oct 12, 2026), down from 4.35$/gal on Oct 5, 2026. Since Oct 13, 2025 it has moved +41.5%.

Loading chart…

Y axis zoomed to the selected range, so week-to-week moves are visible. It does not start at zero.

Source: FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)

Sort:
IndicatorLastPreviousChangeHighestLowestRange %GaugeDate
Gasoline Prices $/gal4.334.35-0.02-0.5% · 1W50.983%—Oct 26
WTI Crude Oil $/bbl96.2496.13+0.11+0.1% · 1D145.3-3773%—Oct 26
Natural Gas (Henry Hub) $/MMBtu3.032.96+0.07+2.4% · 1D30.71.26%—Oct 26

The 3 indicators

Gasoline

Gasoline Prices
3/10Alert
$4.33per gallon · week of Oct 12, 2026

A gallon costs $4.33, 38.6% more than a year ago. The record was $5.01 in Jun 2022.

See scale and last 10 years

Average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the US, versus a year ago. It is the price people notice most: when it rises, confidence falls.

Measures: Gasoline vs. a year ago (%).

Oct 2016last 10 yearsOct 2026
ScoreGasoline vs. a year ago (%)
100.0 or less
90.1 to 5.0
85.1 to 10.0
710.1 to 15.0
615.1 to 20.0
520.1 to 27.0
427.1 to 35.0
335.1 to 45.0
245.1 to 60.0
1more than 60.0

EIA (GASREGW) · FRED

WTI crude oil

WTI Crude Oil
5/10Caution▲ above normal
$96.24per barrel · Oct 6, 2026

A barrel costs $96.24, 54.0% more than a year ago.

See scale and last 10 years

A barrel of Texas crude, versus a year ago. A big jump lifts inflation and slows spending; a collapse usually comes with a recession or hurts producers, as in 2015 and 2020.

Measures: WTI vs. a year ago (%).

Oct 2016last 10 yearsOct 2026
ScoreAboveBelow
100.0 to 10.0−10.0 to −0.1
910.1 to 20.0−20.0 to −10.1
820.1 to 30.0−30.0 to −20.1
730.1 to 40.0−40.0 to −30.1
640.1 to 50.0−50.0 to −40.1
550.1 to 60.0−60.0 to −50.1
460.1 to 80.0−70.0 to −60.1
380.1 to 100.0−80.0 to −70.1
2100.1 to 130.0−90.0 to −80.1
1more than 130.0less than −90.0

EIA (DCOILWTICO) · FRED

Natural gas (Henry Hub)

Natural Gas (Henry Hub)
10/10Healthy
$3.03per MMBtu · Oct 6, 2026

Gas costs $3.03 per million BTU, 8.7% less than a year ago.

See scale and last 10 years

The price of natural gas in Louisiana, the US benchmark. It drives power and heating bills. It is very volatile, so its scale is wider than oil's.

Measures: Natural gas vs. a year ago (%).

Oct 2016last 10 yearsOct 2026
ScoreAboveBelow
100.0 to 15.0−15.0 to −0.1
915.1 to 30.0−30.0 to −15.1
830.1 to 45.0−40.0 to −30.1
745.1 to 60.0−50.0 to −40.1
660.1 to 80.0−60.0 to −50.1
580.1 to 100.0−70.0 to −60.1
4100.1 to 130.0−75.0 to −70.1
3130.1 to 170.0−80.0 to −75.1
2170.1 to 220.0−85.0 to −80.1
1more than 220.0less than −85.0

EIA (DHHNGSP) · FRED

If this gauge had existed since 1991

Each month's score, with today's rules and thresholds. Henry Hub natural gas starts in 1997: before that, the score uses gasoline and oil. Gray bands are recessions.

14710199219951998200120042007201020132016201920222025ABCDEF
  • A2005 · Hurricane Katrina sends gasoline soaring
  • B2008 · oil hits $145 in July and falls below $31 by December
  • C2015 · oil halves: a crisis for shale producers
  • D2020 · COVID: oil trades below zero
  • E2022 · gasoline sets its record: $5.01 a gallon
  • FToday · score 6: gasoline is up 38

How it is calculated

The rules

  1. Each indicator scores 1 to 10 from its table, by its one-year change.
  2. The score is the average of the three, rounded (0.5 rounds down).
  3. If two of the three are red, the score is at most 4.
  4. An indicator without data is left out of the average.

Deliberate choices

  • Gasoline is one-sided: falling prices are good for households. Oil and gas are two-sided: a collapse is a bad sign too.
  • Natural gas moves twice as much as oil: its scale is wider so it is not red every winter.
  • The day oil traded below zero (April 2020) is not used to compute changes.
  • It describes energy prices from the latest data. It does not forecast prices and is not a buy or sell signal.

Sources: US Energy Information Administration (EIA), via FRED. Recessions: NBER. Not investment advice.