Gas prices are continuing a long, slow march in the right direction, falling another 3 cents per gallon in Western Pennsylvania this week to $3.741 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s gas price report.
In Bradford, the average was $3.758, in Brookville, $3.670, in DuBois, $3.738, in Erie, $3.708 and in Warren, $3.828.
Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, the overall state average was $3.64 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. Prices in Pennsylvania are 18.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 41.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 6.6 cents in the last week and stands at $4.38 per gallon.
According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Pennsylvania was priced at $3.12 per gallon Sunday while the most expensive was $4.69 per gallon, a difference of $1.57 per gallon.
The national average price of gasoline has fallen 7.0 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.38/g today. The national average is down 32.8 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 40.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million weekly price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.
“For the seventh straight week, we’ve seen the national average price of gasoline decline. With cooler weather comes cooler gasoline prices, and as we inch closer to the Thanksgiving holiday, prices will continue to fall virtually coast to coast. Eight states are now seeing average gas prices below $3 per gallon,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
De Haan continued,”While the national average is now at its lowest since March, the decline is likely to continue for at least another couple of weeks, with California likely soon falling below $5, while more states fall under $3. Millions of Americans already have access to $2.99/gal or cheaper, and I expect that number to continue to grow this week.”
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand decreased slightly from 8.86 to 8.7 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks remained flat at 223.5 million barrels. Lower gas demand, alongside declining oil prices, has contributed to pushing pump prices down.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by 58 cents to settle at $80.44. Oil prices fell as the dollar strengthened after the U.S. Federal Reserve decided to hold off on another interest rate increase. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude inventories increased by 800,000 barrels to 421.9 million barrels last week.
