Gas prices are 10 cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.839 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                         $3.839
Average price during the week of April 1, 2024                                                $3.735
Average price during the week of April 10, 2023                                              $3.757

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:      

$3.809      Altoona
$3.839      Beaver
$3.846      Bradford
$3.811      Brookville
$3.841      Butler
$3.711      Clarion
$3.848      DuBois
$3.857      Erie
$3.852      Greensburg
$3.881      Indiana
$3.868      Jeannette
$3.821      Kittanning
$3.818      Latrobe
$3.877      Meadville
$3.880      Mercer
$3.726      New Castle
$3.864      New Kensington
$3.888      Oil City
$3.842      Pittsburgh
$3.823      Sharon
$3.844      Uniontown
$3.886      Warren
$3.860      Washington

Trend Analysis:

As domestic gasoline demand increases and oil prices are now in the mid-$80s per barrel range, the national average for a gallon of gas climbed six cents to $3.59 over the past week. Today’s national average is 19 cents more than a month ago and the same as a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand rose from 8.72 to 9.23 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 4.2 million barrels to 227.8 million barrels. Higher demand and rising oil prices will likely nudge pump prices higher.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by 28 cents to settle at $85.43. Renewed Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure and increasing tension in the Middle East are causing oil prices to spike even though EIA reporting an increase of 3.2 million barrels from the previous week. At 451.4 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 2% below the five-year average for this time of year.