PITTSBURGH — The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is four cents higher this week at $2.810 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in Bradford was $2.864; Brookville, $2.849; DuBois, $2.836; Erie, $2.855; and Warren, $2.867.
Pump prices continue to move upward, despite low demand. This is the result of increasing oil prices, which settled at $59.47/barrel at the end of Friday’s formal trading session (West Texas Intermediate). Crude oil accounts for more than 50 cents of every dollar spent at the pump, and prices have been increasing since the beginning of the year. Today’s price for crude is about $4 less than last year’s most expensive price of $63.27/barrel (on January 6, 2020).
The current national gas price average is $2.51. Nearly 40 state averages are already more than they were last year, with half of those averages seeing double-digit increases. Demand has averaged 7.7 million b/d since January. The last time it measured below 8 million b/d during the first six weeks of the year was 2001.
Precisely how expensive gas will get this year is largely dependent on crude price and demand. The price of crude is still $10–$12/barrel lower than when the national average neared $3/gallon in 2018.
