Temperatures aren’t the only volatile numbers lately, as gas prices have been rising and falling, too.
In Bradford, the average price of a gallon of gasoline is $3.739, while the average in Western Pennsylvania is $3.603 and in the state, $3.55, according to industry reports.
The average price of a gallon of gasoline in Brookville was $3.501; in DuBois, $3.568; in Erie, $3.513; and in Warren, $3.759, according to AAA East Central.
Despite dropping demand, the national average for a gallon of gas fell by only a penny since last week. Monday’s national average of $3.24 is 18 cents less than a month ago and 17 cents less than a year ago.
The national average price of gasoline has fallen 0.4 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.21 per gallon Monday. The national average is down 18.9 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 14.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy.
“We’ve barely eked out a drop in the national average over the last week, extending the streak to 11 straight weeks of decline, even as some states have seen prices jump, while others have seen prices continue to inch lower,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
The national average price of diesel has fallen 4.7 cents in the last week and stands at $4.18 per gallon. According to GasBuddy, the cheapest station in Pennsylvania was priced at $3.05 per gallon Sunday while the most expensive was $4.49 per gallon, a difference of $1.44 per gallon.
“Motorists can blame the OPEC+ meeting for causing oil to jump early last week and then plummet late last week for the volatility in gas prices,” De Haan said. “The good news is that as the dust settled, OPEC+ agreed to barely move the needle, deepening their production cuts by an additional 900,000 barrels per day in 2024, with Saudi Arabia extending their own million barrel per day cut through March.”
He continued, “However, that wasn’t enough to offset concerns of falling global demand, which pushed oil back down to below $73 in Sunday night trading, giving hope that the national average still could fall to $2.99 per gallon by the end of the year.”
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $1.45 to settle at $77.86. Oil prices increased due to market concerns that OPEC+ will maintain its production reduction agreement through 2024. A tight oil supply could elevate prices if demand moves higher than expected. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude inventories increased by 1.6 million barrels to 449.7 million barrels last week.
