The price of a gallon of gas has- again- jumped significantly in Butler 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 $2.91. That’s 13 cents higher than last week, and 25 cents higher than two weeks ago.
AAA says Butler is not alone- prices statewide have also jumped significantly following the fire and subsequent announcement that the PES South Philadelphia refinery will close this month.
“With regional refinery utilization dropping to 84% (due to the fire), regional gasoline stocks decreased by 1.2 million barrels for the week ending June 21, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data. Total stocks sit at 60.8 million barrels – the lowest June inventory recorded for the region since 2015,” according to AAA.
Between the planned closure of PES, increasing crude oil prices, decreased inventory, and a record-high number of travelers expected over the holiday, prices may continue to increase. The silver lining for motorists is that if prices move upward in the days ahead, they would likely still be on par with this time last year.
Drivers are still paying less than they were at this time last year. The average price for a gallon of regular on July 2, 2018 in western Pennsylvania was $3.05.
This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average $2.948
Average price during the week of June 24, 2019 $2.884
Average price during the week of July 2, 2018 $3.053
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$2.834 Altoona
$2.958 Beaver
$2.994 Bradford
$3.042 Brookville
$2.912 Butler
$2.933 Clarion
$2.901 Du Bois
$2.951 Erie
$2.966 Greensburg
$2.987 Indiana
$2.967 Jeannette
$2.999 Kittanning
$2.975 Latrobe
$2.824 Meadville
$2.922 Mercer
$2.870 New Castle
$2.987 New Kensington
$2.972 Pittsburgh
$2.852 Sharon
$2.991 Uniontown
$3.059 Warren
$2.957 Washington