AAA: Pennsylvania Gas Prices Dip; Oil Prices Plunge

The average price of gasoline across Western Pennsylvania is two cents cheaper this week at $2.122 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Mid-Atlantic and Northeast state averages are two to six cents cheaper on the week. With the latest declines, only four states in the region carry averages of more than $2/gallon: New York ($2.22), Washington, D.C. ($2.16), Pennsylvania ($2.08) and New Jersey ($2.05). At $1.68, North Carolina has the lowest state average in the region.

Increasing by 1.3 million barrels, total regional gasoline stocks now sit at a healthy 71.8 million barrels. Inventory has bumped up for a month by a substantial 11 million barrels. Energy Information Administration (EIA) levels were reported at 60 million barrels for the week ending March 20. Given the substantial amount of gasoline inventory, regional refinery utilization has plummeted to 39%.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average $2.122
Average price during the week of April 13, 2020 $2.147
Average price during the week of April 22, 2019 $3.036

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:

$2.090      Altoona
$2.226      Beaver
$2.198      Bradford
$2.098      Brookville
$2.064      Butler
$2.070      Clarion
$2.100      DuBois
$2.106      Erie
$2.116      Greensburg
$2.109      Indiana
$2.192      Jeannette
$2.118      Kittanning
$2.149      Latrobe
$1.953      Meadville
$2.232      Mercer
$1.789      New Castle
$2.225      New Kensington
$2.199      Oil City
$2.212      Pittsburgh
$1.929      Sharon
$2.240      Uniontown
$2.199      Warren
$2.184      Washington

On the National Front

On the week, the national gas price average decreased by a nickel pushing the year-over-year savings to $1.03/gallon. Today, 20 states have pump price averages that are $1/gallon or more cheaper compared to last year, with another dozen states within a dime of reaching this mark. One in four U.S. gas stations are selling gas for $1.49 or less.

Prices may continue to drop in the week ahead, as regional refinery rates drop and the price of crude oil plummets. At the end of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased by $1.60 to settle at $18.12 per barrel. Today (April 20th), the price dropped into negative territory. This drastic drop is likely to be reflected at the pump in the days ahead.

Crude prices were volatile last week in the wake of a historic 9.7-million b/d crude oil production reduction agreement for May and June 2020 between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia. As oil inventories continue to grow around the globe and crude demand falls worldwide, crude prices have dropped dramatically as the public health, economic and financial impact of COVID-19 increases. Crude prices will likely remain volatile this week as the market continues to assess how low prices could fall during the ongoing pandemic.

On the week, U.S. gasoline demand was stable at 5.1 million barrels-per-day as refinery rates dipped down to 69%, a level not reported by the EIA in more than a decade. Despite lower run rates amid low demand, gasoline stocks increased. Total U.S. stock levels measure at a record 262 million barrels – the highest weekly domestic stock level ever recorded by EIA, since it began reporting the data in 1990.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.


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