(File Photo) 

(Pittsburgh, Pa.) Gas prices are 17 cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $4.010 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                $4.010
Average price during the week of August 29, 2022                                 $4.189
Average price during the week of September 7, 2021                             $3.321

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

$3.994      Altoona
$4.082      Beaver
$4.024      Bradford
$3.915      Brookville
$4.008      Butler
$4.002      Clarion
$3.950      DuBois
$3.992      Erie
$3.999      Greensburg
$4.014      Indiana
$3.958      Jeannette
$4.021      Kittanning
$3.997      Latrobe
$3.999      Meadville
$4.087      Mercer
$4.037      New Castle
$3.996      New Kensington
$3.996      Oil City
$4.054      Pittsburgh
$3.999      Sharon
$4.087      Uniontown
$3.999      Warren
$4.019      Washington

Trend Analysis:

Lower oil prices, modest domestic gasoline demand, and a so-far quiet hurricane season are combining to drive pump prices lower. According to weather analysts, it’s the first time in 25 years that a named Atlantic storm did not develop in August. The national average for a gallon of gas fell seven cents in the past week to $3.77. Today’s national average is 31 cents less than a month ago but 59 cents more than a year ago.

Meanwhile, oil prices dipped on recent decreased Chinese manufacturing output due to lower demand for goods and new COVID‑19 outbreaks in critical industrial cities. This is fueling fears that oil demand could drop in China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil. Additionally, prices declined most of last week amid market concerns that crude demand will fall if economic growth slows or stalls due to a recession. EIA’s latest weekly report showed that total commercial crude inventories decreased by 3.4 million barrels to 418.3 million barrels.

According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), domestic gas demand increased slightly from 8.43 million barrels per day to 8.59 million barrels per day last week. However, the rate is nearly 1 million barrels per day lower than the last week of August 2021. Also, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.1 million barrels to 214.5 million barrels.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 71 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.