PITTSBURGH — Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are up by about a penny over the week to $3.104 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
Gas prices continue to trend flat across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states. Inventories added a surprise for this time of year — landing at 837,000 barrels, according to the latest Energy Information Administration data. The region was the only to see an inventory build over the week. At 64 million barrels in total, the region is sitting on a 1.5 million surplus, which is helping to keep gas prices flat and cheaper than earlier this summer.
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Bradford is $3.091; Brookville, $3.200; DuBois, $3.067; Erie, $3.073; and in Warren, $3.140.
At $2.83, the national gas price average is trending lower toward gas prices that motorists haven’t seen since early May. Tuesday’s national gas price average is one-cent less on the week, four-cents cheaper than last month, but still 19-cents more than a year ago.
Motorists took advantage of these stable and lower prices by driving gasoline demand to its highest level ever on record at 9.899 barrels for the week ending Aug. 24, according to the EIA. But that spike is not expected to continue. With summer coming to a close, demand is expected to drop off in the coming weeks which means — barring any unforeseen circumstances — motorists can expect to see gas prices steadily decline.
