Gas prices are rising again, but for once, Bradford was a little behind the times, with gas prices below average at the beginning of the week.
According to GasBuddy, prices have risen 8.1 cents to $4.06 per gallon as of Monday. In Bradford, Monday’s average was $3.999; in Brookville, $3.836; in DuBois, $4.057; in Erie. $4.047; and in Warren, $3.999.
Prices in Pennsylvania are 21.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 49.8 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 3.4 cents in the last week and stands at $5.32 per gallon, GasBuddy reported. The cheapest station in Pennsylvania was priced at $3.24 per gallon on Sunday while the most expensive was $4.79 per gallon, a difference of $1.55 per gallon.
The national average price of gasoline has risen 6.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.78 per gallon on Monday. The national average is down 11.5 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 37.8 cents per gallon higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data.
“Just over half of the nation’s 50 states saw gasoline prices rise last week, pulling the national average back up for the time being due to big jumps in the Great Lakes and continued increases in New England and mid-Atlantic states,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
“For now, the rise in the Great Lakes, brought on by tight supply, has already started to ease, and declines should start again. In the northeastern U.S., prices are likely to inch up a bit more,” he continued. “National diesel supply remains tight, but supplies of diesel did see a slight rise last week. The majority of stations, especially away from the East Coast and Northeast, should have very few issues with diesel supply, though some stations in those regions could see diesel delivery times slip. Brief outages at a limited number of stations are possible, but with refineries continuing to churn out product and maintenance wrapping up, I’m optimistic the situation will improve.”
According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand dipped slightly from 8.93 million barrels per day to 8.66 million barrels per day last week. Also, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.3 million barrels to 206.6 million barrels.
This tighter supply and fluctuating oil prices have contributed to higher gasoline prices. At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $4.44 to settle at $92.61.Crude prices rose due to several factors including the dollar dropping in value, concerns over restrictions in China and Russian oil production cuts.
