Gas prices in West Virginia have dropped by four cents over the week to $2.775 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
Gas prices are one to five cents cheaper across every state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region. However, today’s prices are 50 to 64 cents more expensive compared to last year at this time - with West Virginia seeing the smallest and Connecticut seeing the largest increases year-over-year.
Regional gasoline inventories fell to 65.6 million barrels after a 1.3 million drop on the week. This latest decrease brings the year-over-year deficit for the region to 3.4 million bbl, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
This week’s average prices: Northern WV Average: $2.775
Average price during the week of June 11, 2018: $2.819
Average price during the week of June 19, 2017: $2.293
The following is a list of the average prices in several West Virginia locations:
$2.768 Bridgeport
$2.711 Clarksburg
$2.706 Huntington
$2.851 Martinsburg
$2.825 Morgantown
$2.734 Parkersburg
$2.809 Weirton
$2.795 Wheeling
On the National Front
On the week, the national gas price average is two cents cheaper at $2.90. Today’s national average is only one cent more expensive than a month ago, but 60 cents more expensive than a year ago.
Nationwide, 44 states have less expensive or steady gas price averages compared to last Monday. However, the cheaper trend may be reversing. Gasoline demand spiked in the latest EIA report, in fact setting a new record at 9.88 million b/d for the week ending June 8. As demand skyrockets, U.S. gasoline inventories plummeted 2.27 million barrels to land at 237 million, which is 5.7 million below stocks last year at this time. If demand continues to strengthen and inventories decrease in the weeks ahead, motorists may see gas prices do a reversal and start to increase again.
Moving into this week, another factor that will influence gas prices in the near and long-term will be outcomes from the June 22 OPEC meeting in Vienna, Austria. The cartel, along with other major producers including Russia, will discuss increasing oil production ahead of the year-end scheduled dissolution of its production reduction agreement. Some reports indicate that OPEC could be looking at an increase of 300,000 to 600,000 b/d to help ease global crude price gains. An increase in production would likely decrease crude oil prices and encourage cheaper gas prices.
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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