In Bradford, the average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline is $3.761 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. They also report that across Pennsylvania, gas prices are “steady” at $3.743 per gallon on average.
However, according to reports for GasBuddy, average gasoline prices in Pennsylvania have fallen 2.6 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.62 per gallon on Tuesday.
GasBuddy and AAA have conflicting numbers for the national average this week as well, however, both indicate a rise in prices between 2.5 cents and a nickel over last week’s cost to consumers at the pump. Both have reported factors related to the rise. AAA reports that shorter days and winter weather were a combination resulting in low demand for gas, yet as oil prices rose, worries of a global economic recession eased. They state the big reason for the increase this week is the higher cost of oil; it accounts for more than half of the cost of a gallon of gas.
Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy said, “We’ve seen somewhat of a mixed week at the pump with some states seeing gasoline prices rise, while others have stabilized for the time being. The good news as of late has been the continued decline in average diesel prices, which fell over a penny per day last week.”
AAA also reported, that according to data from the Energy Information Administration, there was less demand for gas, 7.56 million barrels per day rather than the 7.51 million per day last week, and that domestic gasoline stocks rose from 222.7 million barrels to 226.8 million barrels. This means that the demand for gas is not moving up or down and supplies are building up. Increasing supply can contribute to “limited pump price increases,” according to the data.
“Oil prices have seen a bit of a rally, finishing last week at nearly $80 per barrel again as Chinese demand starts to jump as expected, but with Covid cases and deaths now also surging in China, the jump in demand could be short-lived. Gas prices may nudge up slightly in the week ahead in some areas, while others could hold flat. The window on price drops, however, appears to be coming up on the horizon as we get closer to what’s likely to be a significant refinery maintenance period ahead of summer,” De Haan said.
