By SARA FURLONG

s.furlong@bradfordera.com

Regional, state and national gasoline markets saw little movement — in either direction — during the last week, according to GasBuddy and AAA East Central reports.

Prices held steady in Western Pennsylvania and statewide, at $3.581 and $3.33 per gallon, respectively.

Locally, a gallon of gas was one-tenth of 1 cent lower this week at an average of $3.598. In Brookville, it was $3.500, down 1.4 cents; in DuBois it was $3.469, down 1 cent; and in Warren it was $3.691, down 0.6 cents. In Erie, however, prices were down almost a dime, 9.9 cents, to $3.434.

Pennsylvania’s cheapest gallon of gas clocked in Monday at $2.75 and the most expensive at $3.95, a difference of $1.20. Across the state, averages for this week are 7.3 cents less than last month and 46.1 cents less than last year.

Nationwide, average prices for both gasoline and diesel ticked up slightly, 2 cents for gasoline and 0.2 cents for diesel, to $3.12 and $3.501, respectively. Gasoline remains nearly 50 cents — 49.6 — less than the same week in 2024 and 12 cents less than the same period in April.

The average is a far cry — in either direction — from both the highest and lowest prices seen this week during the last decade. American motorists were paying $1.15 more in 2022 at $4.27 ($4.45 in Pennsylvania) and $1.34 less in 2020 at $1.78 ($1.97 in the commonwealth).

AAA East Central indicated Monday that plunging oil prices have counteracted the seasonal increases and rising demand typically seen this time of year, keeping pump prices mostly in check.

‘Last week was another mixed bag at the pump for many Americans, but there may be some promising short-term news from OPEC+, which has agreed to increase oil production starting in June,’ said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. ‘Here in the U.S., slightly more than half of the states saw gas prices rise, while many others saw modest declines. We continued to see price cycling in states prone to such movements, including much of the Great Lakes region, as well as in Maryland, Florida, and parts of Texas. However, the most notable development is OPEC+’s decision to raise production next month, as oil prices hover near their lowest levels since the pandemic. While gasoline inventories have been tightening due to ongoing refinery maintenance— which has limited how much gas prices have fallen in response to lower oil— refinery output is expected to rise soon. As maintenance wraps up, we could see an increase in gasoline supply and a national average that may soon dip below $3 per gallon.’ According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand decreased from 9.41 barrels per day last week to 9.09. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 229.5 million barrels to 225.5. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 9.5 million barrels per day.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate fell $2.21 to settle at $58.21 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories decreased by 2.7 million barrels from the previous week. At 440.4 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.

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