By SARA FURLONG

s.furlong@bradfordera.com

The three-week run in which Bradford’s local average gas prices were lower than the regional average has come to an end.

According to AAA East Central, average gas prices in Western Pennsylvania shed 4 cents this week to stand at $3.587 per gallon Monday. Bradford’s pump prices, meantime, ticked up 2 cents to rest at $3.599 this week.

Brookville’s average dropped 9.1 cents to $3.514, DuBois decreased 3 cents to $3.479 and Erie’s cost dipped 5.3 cents to $3.533. In Warren, the average gallon shed two-tenths of 1 cent to $3.697.

Across the state, prices decreased 1.3 cents to $3.33 this week. The least expensive station among GasBuddy’s 5,269 surveyed was selling gas for $2.75 per gallon, while the most expensive registered at $3.87, a difference of $1.12. The Keystone State’s average this week is 8.2 cents higher than last month, but is still 46.1 cents less than last year.

Across the country, motorists could expect to shell out $3.10 per gallon of gasoline and $3.499 per gallon of diesel. This week’s averages are unchanged and down 2 cents, respectively. Gasoline is down compared to both a month ago and a year ago, 3.8 and 52.6 cents, respectively. GasBuddy compiles these averages from more than 11 million price reports covering more than 150,000 U.S. gas stations.

“Average gasoline prices in the U.S. have been volatile over the past week, with roughly half of the 50 states seeing prices decline while the other half experienced increases,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “Oil prices, which had fallen into the $50 per barrel range at the height of Trump’s trade war, have since rallied and are now holding in the low $60s, leading to rising gas prices in some states. For now, I expect the national average to bounce around in the $3.10 to $3.20 per gallon range over the coming week, with a continued mixed bag for consumers — about half of the states may see prices inch lower, while the other half could experience increases. We’ll be watching for any market developments, but for now, the market appears to be in a holding pattern.”

According to AAA representatives, crude oil was selling for approximately $82 per barrel at this time last year.

During this week in 2022, drivers across the country were paying an average of $4.15 per gallon. In Pennsylvania, it was even higher at $4.27. The lowest prices of the last decade were recorded in 2020, at $1.74 nationally and $1.97 statewide.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased from 8.46 million barrels per day last week to 9.41. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 234.0 million barrels to 229.5. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 10.1 million barrels per day.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate fell $1.40 to settle at $62.27 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 0.2 million barrels from the previous week. At 443.1 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide and countywide at gasprices. aaa.com.