Summer drivers catching a break
Drivers are enjoying the lowest gasoline prices in four years for all those summer road trips on the calendar this season.
Heading into the Fourth of July weekend, American motorists paid the lowest holiday average since 2020 at $3.14 per gallon and prices haven’t moved much since.
The national average is up 2 cents this week to $3.11 per gallon. EV drivers could expect to pay the same 36 cents per kilowatt hour they’ve seen since early June. According to GasBuddy’s review of more than 11 million weekly price reports comprising more than 150,000 gas stations across the U.S., this week’s average is half a cent lower than a month ago but still 37.9 cents lower than a year ago.
Diesel regained the 3.2 cents it lost in early July, to check in at the same $3.676 per gallon posted during the week of June 30.
“With oil prices posting a modest uptick last week, the national average price of gasoline also inched slightly higher, with just over half of U.S. states seeing increases, while nearly two dozen saw declines,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “As we approach the midpoint of the summer driving season, gasoline inventories remain just below average, while diesel inventories are considerably tighter — keeping upward pressure on diesel prices. While renewed tariff discussions could weigh on oil markets due to concerns about economic growth, absent any major developments, we expect the national average to remain rangebound in the low-$3 per gallon area, where it has spent much of the summer.”
Pennsylvania was among the nearly two dozen states to post average declines, as prices dropped 7 cents to $3.24 per gallon Monday. The commonwealth’s cheapest station clocked in this week at $2.69 and the priciest $1.30 more at $3.99 per gallon. This week’s average is 3.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stands 42.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.
Closer to home, Western Pennsylvania’s average gallon of gas was running 9 cents lower this week at $3.405.
According to AAA East Central’s reports, Brookville saw prices drop 14.1 cents to $3.123. Erie’s average shed 8.5 cents to $3.431. In DuBois, costs decreased by 1.8 cents to $3.335. Meanwhile, in Bradford, the average dropped 1.4 cents to $3.599 and in Warren a gallon of gas was six tenths of one cent cheaper this week at $3.656.
AAA representatives said in a press release, “This season’s lower pump prices are due to an abundance of supply in the oil market. Halfway through the year, the national gas price comparison chart shows prices have remained steady in 2025 compared to recent years.”
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased from 8.64 million barrels per day last week to 9.15. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 232.1 million barrels to 229.5. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.9 million barrels per day.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased 5 cents to settle at $68.38 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 7.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 426 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 8% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide and countywide at gasprices.aaa.com.