Still $3.89. The average price of a gallon of gas in Bradford, that is.
The gap widened between local pump prices and those in Western Pennsylvania overall as the regional average dropped two cents to $3.758, according to AAA East Central.
It was $3.574 in Brookville, $3.702 in DuBois, $3.693 in Erie and $3.896 in Warren.
The lowest price in Pennsylvania was $2.99 on Monday, while the highest was $1.40 more at $4.39. Across the commonwealth, prices fell 3.7 cents during the last week, averaging $3.63 per gallon Monday. The rate is 1.6 cents per gallon more than last month and 6.4 cents less than last year.
According to GasBuddy, the national average price of gasoline fell 1.9 cents during the last week, averaging $3.47 per gallon. Monday’s nationwide average is 3.5 cents more than a month ago and 9.9 cents lower than a year ago.
The national average price of diesel fell 4 cents in the last week and stands at $3.79 per gallon.
“Most of the country has seen a reprieve from rising gasoline prices, thanks to weaker-than-expected gasoline demand, building supplies and a quiet period in the tropics,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “While a good portion of the nation saw average gas prices decline, severe weather completely knocked out power to a major refinery outside Chicago early last week, immediately impacting gasoline supplies to Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, and pushing prices up considerably. We’ve often said how critical refineries are, and with a long power outage, we’re seeing the impact very quickly, but relief will eventually arrive. For now, as we approach the end of summer vacations, I’m hopeful gas prices will continue to edge slightly lower in the week ahead.”
Lower oil costs and lower demand are helping to decrease consumer prices at the pump.
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand plummeted from 9.39 million barrels per day to 8.78 last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks fell from 231.7 to 229.7 million barrels. Gasoline production took a slight hit, likely from Hurricane Beryl, dropping from an average of 10.3 million barrels daily to 9.5.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate rose $2.09 to settle at $82.85 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories decreased by 4.9 million barrels from the previous week. At 440.2 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.
