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West Central Kentucky Motorists Continue to See Downward Trend at the Pump

Kentucky, Gas Prices
Picturesque gas station by Wonderlane
Photo by Wonderlane https://www.flickr.com/photos/wonderlane/ creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  

For the fourth week in a row, West Central Kentucky prices have dropped – this time by seven cents to $2.635 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.  

Six Great Lakes and Central states top the largest weekly decreases list, including Kentucky (-7 cents).  Gas prices are 3 to 14 cents cheaper than last Monday across the region.  With the pump price drops, all state gas price averages are now under $3/gallon.

Inventories built slightly (81,000 barrels) and now sit at 52.6 million over the week. This is the third highest inventory level of all regions in the country, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

This week’s average prices: Western Central KY Average:  $2.635
Average price during the week of June 18, 2018:  $2.708
Average price during the week of June 26, 2017:   $2.080

Average prices of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas: 

$2.618        Bowling Green
$2.561        Elizabethtown
$2.871        Louisville
$2.549        Owensboro
$2.575        Paducah

On the National Front

At $2.85, the national gas price average is five cents cheaper than a week ago, 12-cents less than a month ago, but 58-cents more than a year ago.  Gas prices have consistently been declining since Memorial Day.  On the week, 49 states saw pump prices drop with and motorists in Indiana and Michigan saw double-digit declines.

Gas prices may be poised to drop even more following OPEC’s announcement that the cartel will increase production by 1 million b/d in the second half of 2018.  However, that number may be revised closer to 600,000 b/d, as there is speculation that some producers will not be able to meet the quota increase.  Regardless, the production increase could decrease crude prices and in turn drive down gas prices later this year.  These changes would likely hit the pump in the U.S. sometime around late summer or early fall.

The cartel made the production decision after the U.S., China and India voiced support for an increase to prevent an oil deficit that could stifle economic growth in the latter half of 2018.  The production increase will occur ahead of this December’s expected dissolution of OPEC's production reduction agreement, which has worked to reduce global oil supplies and increase the global price of crude since the beginning of 2017.

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:
Lynda Lambert, Safety Advisor & Media Spokesperson
Desk: 502-779-3610 / Cell: 502-565-7410 / Email:
Lambert.Lynda@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.