Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are five cents more expensive this week at $2.512 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.   Only three Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states have more expensive gas price averages on the week, including Pennsylvania (+2 cents).  The rest of the region is paying less to fill-up as compared to last Monday.

With regional utilization up 2.2 percent to 74.6 and an increase in imports, the region’s gasoline stocks built by 2.3 million barrels for the week ending February 1 – the largest of any region according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.  Total stocks register at 71.3 million barrels, which is a number not seen in the region since early 2017, and should help keep fluctuation in gas prices relatively moderate in the week ahead.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average               $2.512
Average price during the week of February 4, 2019                               $2.463
Average price during the week of February 12, 2018                             $2.881

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

$2.464      Altoona
$2.486      Beaver
$2.558      Bradford
$2.541      Brookville
$2.334      Butler
$2.592      Clarion
$2.540      Du Bois
$2.560      Erie
$2.434      Greensburg
$2.568      Indiana
$2.555      Jeannette
$2.568      Kittanning
$2.421      Latrobe
$2.590      Meadville
$2.515      Mercer
$2.390      New Castle
$2.563      New Kensington
$2.522      Pittsburgh
$2.503      Sharon
$2.506      Uniontown
$2.599      Warren
$2.447      Washington

On the National Front
On the week, the national gas price average is two cents more expensive, landing at $2.28.  At the start of the workweek, nearly half of all state averages also saw jumps – some at or more than a dime increase.

Frigid temperatures across much of the country have contributed toward a half a million barrel per day drop in demand to measure at 9 million barrels – a level consistent with a year ago according to the EIA.  At the same time, gasoline stocks saw a nominal 513,000-barrel increase for a total of 257.8 million barrels.  While demand is mostly flat year-over-year, total stocks sit at a 124-million-barrel surplus.

Crude oil has remained relatively cheap since the beginning of the year, moving between $51- $55 per barrel.  At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, WTI increased eight cents to settle at $52.72.  Oil prices were volatile last week, following the release of new data from the EIA showing that at the end of the previous week, total domestic crude oil inventories rose less than expected – a build of only 1.3 million barrels to total 447.2 million.

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