Gas prices are six cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.549 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average $3.549
Average price during the week of Oct. 7, 2024 $3.489
Average price during the week of Oct. 16, 2023 $3.845
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$3.550 Altoona
$3.564 Beaver
$3.772 Bradford
$3.501 Brookville
$3.546 Butler
$3.393 Clarion
$3.575 DuBois
$3.562 Erie
$3.571 Greensburg
$3.561 Indiana
$3.594 Jeannette
$3.512 Kittanning
$3.566 Latrobe
$3.587 Meadville
$3.495 Mercer
$3.446 New Castle
$3.463 New Kensington
$3.587 Oil City
$3.543 Pittsburgh
$3.406 Sharon
$3.538 Uniontown
$3.759 Warren
$3.525 Washington
Trend Analysis:
The national average for a gallon of gas has jumped three cents since last week to $3.20 as parts of the country deal with back-to-back storm damage. Like Hurricane Helene, Milton has not severely impact national gasoline supplies but will affect demand in areas with destroyed infrastructure, flooded roads, and power outages. Today’s national average is a penny less than a month ago and 40 cents less than a year ago.
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand surged from 8.52 million barrels per day last week to 9.65. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks plunged from 221.2 million barrels to 214.9, while gasoline production increased last week, averaging 10.2 million barrels daily.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate fell by 33 cents to settle at $73.24 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 5.8 million barrels from the previous week. At 422.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 4% below the five-year average for this time of year.