The air has been warming up, but gasoline prices have been cooling off over the past week in Western Pennsylvania.
AAA East Central said prices are a penny lower at $3.664 a gallon in the region. In Bradford, the price is $3.705; in Brookville, $3.513; in DuBois, $3.446; in Erie, $3.671; and in Warren, $3.699.
Average gasoline prices in Pennsylvania have fallen 1.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.65 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 5,269 stations in Pennsylvania. Prices in Pennsylvania are 4.2 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand $1.294 per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 3.4 cents in the last week and stands at $3.88 per gallon.
According to GasBuddy, the cheapest station in Pennsylvania was priced at $2.99 per gallon on Sunday while the most expensive was $4.29 per gallon, a difference of $1.30 per gallon.
The national average price of gasoline has fallen 3.9 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.51 per gallon on Monday. The national average is down 1.7 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands $1.345 per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data.
“While the national average drifted lower last week as oil prices cooled off, the drop may be temporary,” cautioned Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “OPEC+ agreed Sunday to additional production cuts, while Saudi Arabia is going above and beyond and cutting July production. As a result, oil prices are likely to see upward pressure as global supplies, which have remained tight, promise to become even tighter as a result.”
He continued, “Last time OPEC+ agreed to cut production, it led to a temporary rally in the price of oil, but as global oil demand hasn’t been as strong as expected, the cut failed to hold oil prices up. OPEC+ and Saudi Arabia are likely hoping that the rise in oil prices will stick longer this time, as the Saudi economy relies on oil prices north of $81 per barrel.
“It’s likely that as a result of the production cut, oil prices could rally this week, pushing gasoline prices higher as early as mid-week,” De Haan said. “How long any rise in gas prices lasts is up in the air, but I do not yet believe motorists need to be worried. Any rise in average prices should be fairly small, and we’re still extremely unlikely to make a run at record prices anytime.”
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by $1.37 to settle at $68.09. Additionally, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that total domestic commercial crude inventories increased significantly by 4.5 million barrels to 459.7 million barrels last week.
According to new data from the EIA, gas demand decreased from 9.43 to 9.1 million barrels per day last week. Lower demand has helped to cap increases in pump prices. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks dropped slightly to 216.1 million barrels.
