AAA: Western PA Gas Prices Up Slightly; National Average Stabilizes
Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are a penny higher this week at $3.000 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                  $3.000
Average price during the week of April 5, 2021                                         $2.993
Average price during the week of April 13, 2020                                       $2.147

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

$2.956      Altoona
$3.061      Beaver
$3.097      Bradford
$2.892      Brookville
$3.033      Butler
$2.896      Clarion
$2.959      DuBois
$3.062      Erie
$2.929      Greensburg
$3.078      Indiana
$2.995      Jeannette
$2.999      Kittanning
$2.998      Latrobe
$3.084      Meadville
$3.099      Mercer
$2.839      New Castle
$3.078      New Kensington
$3.099      Oil City
$3.026      Pittsburgh
$2.868      Sharon
$2.981      Uniontown
$3.099      Warren
$2.888      Washington

Trend Analysis:
After a wild March, Americans are seeing some stability at the pump. This is thanks in part to a small decrease in demand, cheaper crude prices, and an increase in refinery utilization. Today’s national average ($2.86) is one cent cheaper on the week, but more expensive on the month (+3 cents) and year (+$1.00). 40 states’ averages either increased or decreased by a penny or had no change at all this week.

At 84%, refinery utilization is at its highest measurement this year. This strong utilization rate, as measured by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), helped contribute to the addition of 4 million barrels of gasoline, pushing overall supply levels to 234.5 million barrels for the week ending April 2.

For the first time in nearly two months, crude oil prices last week held below $60/barrel for five straight days. The cheaper price is a positive indicator for more stability at the pump.

With a 1.25% decrease, demand dropped slightly to 8.7 million b/d. This is well above the 5.5 million b/d recorded one year ago, but still significantly lower than the 9.8 million b/d seen in early April 2019.

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

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 73 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.