Gas prices in western Pennsylvania continued to slowly drop over the past week.
According to AAA’s weekly gas price report, the average price for a gallon of regular, unleaded, self-serve in Butler is $2.88 per gallon.
Prices are about six cents cheaper across western Pennsylvania as a whole this week, averaging $2.86 per gallon. The cheapest gas in the area can be found in Altoona at $2.55 per gallon, while the most expensive is $2.97 in Sharon.
The average national gas price declined by seven cents to $2.64 this week, which is 13 cents cheaper than a month ago and 21 cents less expensive than this time last year. AAA says this ongoing decline is mostly attributed to an increase in domestic gasoline inventory over demand.
This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average $2.861
Average price during the week of August 5, 2019 $2.924
Average price during the week of August 13, 2018 $3.113
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$2.556 Altoona
$2.771 Beaver
$2.905 Bradford
$2.941 Brookville
$2.884 Butler
$2.926 Clarion
$2.678 Du Bois
$2.933 Erie
$2.859 Greensburg
$2.915 Indiana
$2.937 Jeannette
$2.905 Kittanning
$2.799 Latrobe
$2.763 Meadville
$2.925 Mercer
$2.798 New Castle
$2.843 New Kensington
$2.932 Pittsburgh
$2.976 Sharon
$2.803 Uniontown
$2.959 Warren
$2.942 Washington
On the National Front
Today’s national gas price average ($2.64) is seven cents cheaper on the week, 13-cents less than a month ago, and 21-cents cheaper than a year ago.
This week’s decline is largely due to an increase in domestic gasoline inventory, which outpaced a weekly increase in demand. According to the EIA’s latest data, stocks built by 4.4 million barrels. Contributing to the build was at least 1.2 million b/d of imports at U.S. ports. With the large bump, stocks now sit 235 million barrels – a U.S. stock level not seen since the end of March.
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate increased by a $1.96 to settle at $54.50. Crude prices increased last week after reports emerged that OPEC is considering additional crude production cuts. In July, the cartel announced that it and its partners would extend the 1.2 million b/d crude production reduction agreement for an additional nine months. More details about the potential production cuts will likely be discussed at OPEC’s next meeting in December.