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Western PA Gas Prices Jump, State Arrives at Three-Dollars

Pennsylvania, Gas Prices
Filling up Insight by Celeste Lindell
Photo by Celeste Lindell https://www.flickr.com/photos/averagejane/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are up by nearly nine cents this week to $2.973 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. 

Gas prices have spiked as much as 15 cents in the last 14 days for some Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states.  In Pennsylvania ($3.02), gas prices are about six cents higher than last week. 

Gasoline inventories saw a 544 million barrel gain after last week’s decline.  Inventories have remained above the 60 million barrel mark throughout the month of April.  According to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, overall inventories in the region lag 6 million barrels behind this time last year.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average: $3.058
Average price during the week of April 23, 2018: $2.973
Average price during the week of May 1, 2017: $2.708

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

$2.995      Altoona
$3.093      Beaver
$3.033      Bradford
$3.071      Brookville
$3.080      Butler
$3.059      Clarion
$3.061      Du Bois
$3.041      Erie
$3.089      Greensburg
$3.099      Indiana
$3.112      Jeannette
$3.110      Kittanning
$3.068      Latrobe
$3.012      Meadville
$3.107      Mercer
$3.027      New Castle
$3.009      New Kensington
$3.063      Pittsburgh
$2.973      Sharon
$2.992      Uniontown
$3.083      Warren
$3.088      Washington


On the National Front
Hitting $2.81, today’s national gas price average has reached the highest price per gallon since November 2014.  That year, pump prices averaged $3.34, peaking at $3.70 in April and bottoming out at $2.25 in December.  On the week, gasoline demand took a notable drop from its record high the previous week, falling by 774,000 b/d, according to the EIA.  At 9.083 million b/d, gasoline demand is now more in line with rates typically seen during the spring driving season.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate dropped 9-cents to settle at $68.10.  Following EIA’s report that revealed crude inventories moved higher by 2.2 million barrels, oil prices were mostly stable last week, but remained near the three year highs they reached earlier this month.

Total U.S. crude oil output increased to 10.586 million b/d.  The big news in U.S. crude production this week is in exports, which surged to 2.331 million b/d last week – the highest weekly estimate ever on record from the EIA.  The new record high bested the last record, which was set in mid-February of this year. 

Crude production in the U.S. is likely to continue its ascent.  It has grown considerably alongside the total number of active rigs.  According to Baker Hughes, the total number of rigs increased by five last week, bringing the total to 825. There are 128 more rigs this year than this time last year. 

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

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 80 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.

For More Information, Contact:
Jim Garrity, Public & Community Relations Manager
Desk: 412-365-7274 / Cell: 412-905-9021 / Email: Garrity.James@aaaec.com


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AAA East Central is a member club affiliated with the American Automobile Association (AAA) national federation and serves members in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.