PITTSBURGH — Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania again averaged at $2.588 per gallon this week, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Gas prices are cheaper in all states in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on the week with the exception of New York where gas prices remained stable.

The price drop goes hand-in-hand with the region’s latest gasoline inventory trend. For a second consecutive week, the region saw the sizeable build (800,000 bbl) in gasoline inventory. Total inventories sit at 64.8 million bbl, about five million less than this time last year, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Bradford is $2.554; while the low in the region is in DuBois at $2.432; and the high is in Jeannette at $2.662.

As gas prices continue to fluctuate across the country, growth in gasoline production combined with record-breaking high refinery runs continues to drive the country’s already relatively high gasoline inventories even higher. The EIA reports that despite growing domestic and foreign demand, today’s national gasoline inventory levels sit at 231 million bbl and remain higher than the previous five-year average.