While Bradford’s average price for a gallon of gas was spared the regional increase of last week, so too was it bypassed by the slight decrease seen this week.
According to AAA East Central, prices are 2 cents per gallon lower in Western Pennsylvania this week, standing at $3.837 per gallon Monday. Bradford’s average, however, was unchanged from May 28 at $3.898.
In Brookville, it was $3.761; in DuBois, $3.785; in Erie, $3.848; and in Warren, $3.897.
Overall in Pennsylvania, the average price fell 3.9 cents per gallon to rest at $3.72 Monday. This week’s average is 7.7 cents lower than a month ago but 7.4 cents more than a year ago.
The national average price of diesel has fallen 1.8 cents in the last week and stands at $3.82 per gallon.
GasBuddy reported the highest price in Pennsylvania on Sunday clocked in at $4.89 and the lowest was recorded at $3.17, a difference of $1.72 per gallon.
Nationally, the average cost for a gallon of gas saw its largest one-week drop so far this year, falling 6 cents to $3.53, according to AAA East Central. Monday’s national average is 13 cents less than last month and 2 cents less than last year.
“The calendar has closed on May, and so too has the door closed on rising gas prices, with the national average declining to its lowest level since March. Thankfully, gas prices are unlikely to be moved by OPEC’s meeting and agreement to extend production cuts into 2025, leading the national average to fall below $3.50 in the next week,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “With GasBuddy data showing gasoline demand plummeting after Memorial Day, and refiners inputting the largest amount of oil into their facilities in years, it’s very likely we’ll continue to see gas prices fall as we approach July 4. Diesel prices also continue to decline to their lowest level in nearly 11 months. The future looks bright for falling fuel prices across the board, though we’ll have to keep our eyes on hurricane season.”
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand fell slightly from 9.31 barrels per day to 9.14 last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks rose from 226.8 to 228.8 million barrels.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate declined by 60 cents to settle at $79.23 a barrel. Prices fell despite the EIA reporting that crude oil inventories decreased by 4.2 million barrels from the previous week. At 454.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year.
