The price of gasoline is going up again, and one analyst says it may be only the beginning.
“We’ve seen the national average price of gasoline inching higher now for three straight weeks, but I’m afraid the worst is yet to come,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
Gas prices are eight cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.521 per gallon, according to AAA East Central. The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Bradford was $3.598; in Brookville, $3.363; in DuBois, $3.537; in Erie, $3.525; and in Warren, $3.598.
Average gasoline prices in Pennsylvania have risen 7.9 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.45 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy. Prices in Pennsylvania are 12.9 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 25.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 6.9 cents in the last week and stands at $3.99 per gallon.
According to GasBuddy, the cheapest station in Pennsylvania was priced at $2.96 per gallon Sunday while the most expensive was $4.59 per gallon, a difference of $1.63 per gallon.
The national average price of gasoline has risen 5.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.17 per gallon Monday. The national average is up 9.6 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 20 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data.
“With several major refinery issues persisting across various regions, the eventual transition to summer gasoline is likely to continue to put upward pressure on prices, with larger weekly increases likely coming in March and April,” said De Haan. “While I feel optimistic that the rise in prices will be merely average, the fact that we’ve already seen a few high level refinery problems doesn’t bode well for the spring squeeze, and is a reminder to motorists that without the critical role that refineries play, we could see a bumpy transition to EPA-mandated summer gasoline.”
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.14 to 8.81 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 3.1 million barrels to 251 million barrels. Higher gas demand and tighter supply have contributed to elevated pump prices.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by 55 cents to settle at $73.86. Oil prices rose after the EIA reported that refinery oil processing was down slightly from 82.9 to 82.4 percent, signaling that winter maintenance increases ahead of the spring driving season continues. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude stocks increased by 5.5 million barrels to 427.4 million barrels.
