The national average price for a gallon of gasoline has risen 27 cents in the last month, standing at $3.51 per gallon Monday.
That’s an increase of 6.4 cents per gallon from last week and 8.7 cents per gallon higher than one year ago.
While rising gas prices are not unusual for springtime, average costs per gallon have increased four straight weeks, surpassing points seen during this week in 2023.
The current Keystone State average of $3.65 per gallon is 14.1 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, 11.5 cents more than the same period a year ago and 7.3 cents higher than last week, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 5,269 stations in Pennsylvania.
“Americans are now seeing inflation again at the pump with prices higher than they were a year ago,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “We’ve now seen the national average price of gasoline rising for four straight weeks, which isn’t uncommon for this time of year.
“What is uncommon is the number of attacks on Russian oil refiners; attacks which could have ripple effects worldwide if they continue,” said. “Russia could see more capacity impacted by the attacks, forcing it to buy such products on the global market, pushing prices up everywhere. With oil prices now under more pressure and attacks potentially increasing on Russian refiners, we could be in for a few more weeks of rising prices.”
In Western Pennsylvania, AAA East Central reported gas prices were 4 cents higher this week at $3.752 per gallon. In Bradford, the average was $3.704; in Brookville, $3.756; in DuBois, $3.771; in Erie, $3.759; and in Warren, $3.793.
According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Pennsylvania was priced at $3.17 per gallon Sunday while the most expensive was $4.49 per gallon, a difference of $1.32 per gallon.
The national average price of diesel has risen 2 cents in the last week to stand at $4.02 per gallon.
While domestic gas demand has been lackluster, rising oil prices helped push pump prices higher. The Midwest may see a bit of a price reprieve, as the large BP Whiting refinery in Indiana is back up and running after being down since Feb. 1.
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand decreased slightly from 9.04 to 8.81 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks dropped by 3.3 million barrels to 230.8 million barrels. Lower demand would typically contribute to pushing pump prices lower or slowing increases but rising oil prices have pushed them higher instead.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by $1.79 to settle at $81.68. Oil prices fell after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it was leaving interest rates unchanged, but it expects three rate cuts by the end of 2024. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude stocks decreased by 2 million barrels to 445 million barrels last week.
