The average price of gasoline across Northern West Virginia is two cents cheaper this week at $2.837 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
Gasoline made moderate fluctuations across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states. Statewide, West Virginia gasoline is a penny cheaper this week at $2.82.
Gasoline stocks declined by about a half a million barrels in the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest report, even with regional refinery utilization jumping from 87.6 to 92.5%. The decline in stocks contributed toward the more moderate weekly retail price changes. However, an increase in stocks would be most beneficial to the region, which only sits at 59 million barrels total. There is potential for this to happen as much of the region’s refineries are almost all fully operational following unplanned and planned maintenance.
This week’s average prices: Northern WV Average $2.837
Average price during the week of April 29, 2019 $2.859
Average price during the week of May 7, 2018 $2.749
The following is a list of the average prices in several West Virginia locations:
$2.899 Bridgeport
$2.836 Clarksburg
$2.850 Huntington
$2.814 Martinsburg
$2.331 Morgantown
$2.806 Parkersburg
$2.825 Weirton
$2.832 Wheeling
On the National Front
With the national gas price average at $2.89 – just a penny more expensive than last week – most states are seeing moderate ups and downs at the pump. Twenty-seven states saw gas prices decrease or hold steady on the week, with Delaware (-4 cents), Kentucky (-3 cents) and North Carolina (-3 cents) seeing the largest declines.
While gasoline demand remains robust, gasoline inventories built for the first time since early February, which contributed toward the national average only increasing by a penny. Today’s average is just eight cents cheaper than the highest pump price of 2018, which was set going into Memorial Day.
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate increased slightly to settle at $61.94. Although prices inched up on Friday, crude saw losses last week after new concerns about U.S. oversupply emerged. The EIA's weekly petroleum report revealed that domestic crude inventories jumped significantly last week by 10 million barrels. They now sit at 470.6 million barrels, which is nearly 35 million more than the level last year at this time. Crude inventories have not been this high since September 2017, according to the EIA’s data. An all-time record high domestic crude production last week contributed to the substantial growth in U.S. stocks, which likely also was a reason crude oil saw losses on the NYMEX last week. Market observers will look toward EIA’s weekly report this week to see if the growth in crude stocks continues ahead of summer.
Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.