PITTSBURGH — The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is five cents higher this week at $2.910 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region has states on both the top 10 most and least expensive list this week. Motorists in Pennsylvania ($2.82), Washington, D.C. ($2.73), and New York ($2.72) are paying the most while those in Virginia ($2.38) are paying the least.
Regional gasoline stocks saw the largest build in the country with 1.5 million barrels. This helped to keep price increases to a minimum. At 63.8 million stocks total, the region hasn’t seen stock levels this high since the beginning of October (2019). A healthy inventory like this is poised to help drive gas prices down, unless crude prices spike.
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Bradford is $2.959; Brookville, $2.912; DuBois, $2.918; Erie, $2.940; and Warren, $2.949.
The national gas price average held steady on the week at $2.58, but that could change depending on the movement of crude oil prices due to geopolitical concerns.
Following airstrikes in Baghdad last Friday, which killed Iran’s Major General Qassem Soleimani, crude oil prices increased, causing market speculation about what could happen to gas prices in the near-term. The incident escalated tension in the region, raising the possibility that global crude supplies could be disrupted.
