By SARA FURLONG

s.furlong@bradfordera.com

Gas prices did a little bit of everything this week, from rising nationally and across Pennsylvania, to falling regionally and hardly moving at all locally.

Nationally, gas prices increased 6.3 cents per gallon this week, averaging $3.08 Monday. Diesel decreased 0.9 cents to rest at $3,549 per gallon. For gas, prices are 1.6 cents per gallon less than last month and are still 42.5 cents lower than last year according to GasBuddy. com.

Across the commonwealth, the cost rose 1.7 cents per gallon to $3.21 Monday. The price remains 12.6 cents lower than a month ago and 44.4 cents lower than a year ago. Also per GasBuddy, Keystone State stations varied by $1.22 cents this week, from $2.73 at the lowest to the most expensive at $3.95.

‘For the first time in over a month, the national average price of gasoline has risen, driven by the final step in the transition to summer gasoline across wide portions of the country,’ said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

‘This increase has nothing to do with politics or tariffs — which remain paused for now — but is instead the result of seasonality, and is something that happens almost every year.’

In the Western Pennsylvania region, however, prices shed another 3 cents to $3,374 this week, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Bradford’s prices ticked back up threetenths of one cent from $3,565 to $3,568.

Brookville’s average jumped 7.2 cents to $3,244. In DuBois, prices fell 3.2 cents to $3,085, while Erie’s average decreased 6 cents to $3,345. Like Bradford, Warren’s prices also barely budged, falling one-half of 1 cent to $3,557. ‘Concerns over refinery maintenance have been muted so far this year, largely due to broader concerns about the U.S. economy, and demand remains soft,’ De Haan said. ‘However, for those in the Northeastern U.S. who have enjoyed relatively low gas prices compared to the national average, the final step in the transition to summer gasoline is still a few weeks away. Once it occurs, they too will likely Gas… page A-8 see prices rise. For areas that have already completed the switch, ongoing economic uncertainty will likely prevent further major increases — for now.”

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand decreased from 9.18 barrels per day last week to 8.81. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 241.1 million barrels to 240.6. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.6 million barrels per day.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate rose 26 cents to settle at $67.16 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 1.7 million barrels from the previous week. At 437.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide and countywide at gasprices. aaa.com.