After dropping eight cents last week, Northeast Ohio gas prices are down by another penny this week to $2.309 per gallon according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
Great Lakes and Central states’ gas prices are showing signs of volatility. On the week, the majority of the states saw prices decrease, but Ohio (+4 cents) is among the handful of states that are paying more compared to last week. Despite Ohio’s gas price increase, the state remains in the nation’s top ten least expensive markets.
Gasoline inventories continue to build week over week since the start of the year. According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest report, inventories built by 740,000 barrels to total at 58.3 million barrels. Inventories are just 1.8 million below last year this week.
This week’s average prices: Northeast Ohio Average: $2.309
Average price during the week of February 20, 2018: $2.315
Average price during the week of February 27, 2017: $2.123
Average prices of the unleaded self-service gasoline in various areas:
$2.245 Alliance
$2.338 Ashland
$2.259 Ashtabula
$2.399 Aurora
$2.392 Chesterland
$2.299 Cleveland
$2.258 Elyria
$2.286 Independence
$2.235 Lorain
$2.388 Lyndhurst
$2.190 Massillon
$2.285 Mentor
$2.321 New Philadelphia
$2.284 Niles
$2.338 Norwalk
$2.378 Oberlin
$2.267 Parma
$2.237 Ravenna
$2.397 Solon
$2.391 Willard
$2.311 Youngstown
On the National Front
At $2.52, the national gas price average is the cheapest pump price seen this month. The national gas price average for the month of February is $2.56, which is 29-cents more expensive than the $2.28 average of February 2017. On the week, gas prices decreased 1 cent.
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate increased 78 cents to settle at $63.55. Oil prices are likely to continue rebounding this week after the EIA’s latest petroleum report revealed that U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly fell by 1.6 million barrels. The drop gave some market observers hope that global demand growth this year may help drain global inventories further, even with U.S. production continuing to grow.
EIA’s report also found that U.S. domestic crude production and exports remain high, hitting 10.270 million b/d and 2.04 million b/d respectively. A steady increase in crude oil exports underscores that growth in domestic production has led to the U.S. ability to meet growth in global appetite for oil. The growth and price gains for crude since the end of last year have helped to drive additional investment in drilling activity in the U.S., which currently has 799 active oil rigs, according to Baker Hughes, Inc.
Motorists can find current gas prices at GasPrices.AAA.com.
AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 81 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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