The average price of regular gasoline in Lockport added four cents over the week to an average of $2.838 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s weekly 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 New York ($2.94), gas prices are about five 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 price for Lockport: $2.838
Average price during the week of April 23, 2018: $2.798
Average price during the week of May 5, 2017: $2.496
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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