AAA: Gas Prices Still on the Decline in PA

Gas prices are three cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.479 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                          $3.479
Average price during the week of Sept. 23, 2024                                              $3.502
Average price during the week of Oct. 2, 2023                                                  $3.927

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

$3.354      Altoona
$3.508      Beaver
$3.757      Bradford
$3.365      Brookville
$3.513      Butler
$3.374      Clarion
$3.341      DuBois
$3.377      Erie
$3.506      Greensburg
$3.458      Indiana
$3.551      Jeannette
$3.619      Kittanning
$3.481      Latrobe
$3.451      Meadville
$3.618      Mercer
$3.359      New Castle
$3.449      New Kensington
$3.469      Oil City
$3.488      Pittsburgh

$3.313      Sharon
$3.517      Uniontown
$3.759      Warren
$3.380      Washington

Trend Analysis:
The national average for a gallon of gas is up a penny over the past week to $3.21. Hurricane Helene missed the Gulf’s oil production sites and refining centers, so gasoline supply has not been impacted. However, power outages, structural damage, and road flooding will affect local residents’ ability to fuel up as clean-up efforts continue. Today’s national average is 14 cents less than a month ago and 61 cents less than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand rose from 8.77 million barrels per day last week to 9.20. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks fell slightly from 221.6 million barrels to 220.1, while gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.8 million barrels daily.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate fell by 1.87 cents to settle at $69.69 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories decreased by 4.5 million barrels from the previous week. At 413.0 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.