AAA: Pennsylvania Gas Prices Jump This Week; Demand Ebbs Nationwide
The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is nine cents higher this week at $2.440 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Weekly increases were minimal for the majority of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region, with the exception of Delaware (+10 cents), West Virginia (+9 cents) and Maryland (+5 cents). For motorists filling up in the region, they can expect to find state averages fluctuating from a low of $1.92 in Virginia to a high of $2.36 in Pennsylvania.

Nearly one million barrels of gasoline were used from inventory in the region, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data for the week ending June 12. Regional gasoline stocks sit at 74.1 million barrels, and refinery utilization dipped just under 50%. AAA expects the region to see gas prices continue to increase in the weeks ahead, especially as more Americans feel comfortable traveling.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                  $2.440
Average price during the week of June 15, 2020                                       $2.354
Average price during the week of June 24, 2019                                       $2.884

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

$2.398      Altoona
$2.407      Beaver
$2.453      Bradford
$2.453      Brookville
$2.444      Butler
$2.451      Clarion
$2.437      Du Bois
$2.444      Erie
$2.433      Greensburg
$2.460      Indiana
$2.455      Jeannette
$2.447      Kittanning
$2.451      Latrobe
$2.451      Meadville
$2.491      Mercer
$2.392      New Castle
$2.434      New Kensington
$2.454      Oil City
$2.422      Pittsburgh
$2.434      Sharon
$2.430      Uniontown
$2.461      Warren
$2.419      Washington

On the National Front
This week, 30 states only saw an increase of a penny or two, causing the national average to push more expensive by three cents to $2.13 since last Monday. The national rise in gasoline prices has slowed, which can be partly tied to decreasing demand. Measuring at 7.87 million b/d, gasoline demand saw a small week-over-week decline and continues to be significantly lower (21%) compared to this week last year.

Today’s national average is 19 cents more expensive than a month ago, but remains significantly cheaper – 53 cents – than a year ago.

At the end of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by 91 cents to settle at $39.75 per barrel. Domestic crude prices increased at the end of last week amid increased market optimism regarding trade relations between the U.S. and China and greater focus on compliance with the production reduction agreement between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners, including Russia, which has worked to cut global crude production by 9.7 million b/d since May 1, 2020. It remains unclear if OPEC’s agreement will extend into August; it is currently set to expire at the end of July.

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

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 78 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.