AAA: Western PA Gas Prices Remain Steady; National Average Shows Little Movement
Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are one cent lower this week at $3.177 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average $3.177
Average price during the week of May 24, 2021 $3.178
Average price during the week of June 1, 2020 $2.343
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$3.155 Altoona
$3.199 Beaver
$3.099 Bradford
$3.207 Brookville
$3.203 Butler
$3.223 Clarion
$3.200 DuBois
$3.180 Erie
$3.147 Greensburg
$3.199 Indiana
$3.195 Jeannette
$3.184 Kittanning
$3.192 Latrobe
$3.195 Meadville
$3.199 Mercer
$3.135 New Castle
$3.195 New Kensington
$3.199 Oil City
$3.192 Pittsburgh
$3.099 Sharon
$3.193 Uniontown
$3.099 Warren
$3.179 Washington
Trend Analysis:
At $3.04, the national gas price average only increased one penny leading up to Memorial Day weekend. Most states saw no change to pump prices or a decline on the week. However, prices may not stay this way for long. For the week ending May 21, demand jumped to 9.4 million barrels a day. This is the highest reported number since March 2020 and up nearly 30% over the same week last year, indicating motorists are filling up more frequently.
Gasoline supply and demand levels are looking more like typical summer numbers. Demand has steadily jumped week-over-week since the end of April and supply has decreased. The increasing demand and decreasing supply combined with more expensive crude oil prices mean gas prices are likely to fluctuate throughout June.
Today’s average is $1.05 more than last year at this time and 15 cents more expensive than last month. The May national gas price averaged $3/gallon. That is just 11 cents more than the May 2018 and 2019 national averages. With a $3+/gallon average at the start of June, this month could prove to be the most expensive average in years.
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by 53 cents to settle at $66.32. Although prices ended the day down, crude prices gained on the week after the Energy Information Administration’s weekly report showed that total domestic crude inventories decreased by 1.7 million barrels to 484.3 million barrels. However, last week’s price gains were limited by market concerns that increasing coronavirus infections around the world could reduce crude consumption this year.
Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.
AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 73 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members. News releases are available at news.eastcentral.aaa.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.