AAA: Gas Prices Down in PA; National Average Rising Again

Gas prices are two cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $4.186 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                $4.186
Average price during the week of April 18, 2022                                     $4.204
Average price during the week of April 26, 2021                                     $3.035

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

$4.100      Altoona
$4.232      Beaver
$4.199      Bradford
$4.199      Brookville
$4.173      Butler
$4.186      Clarion
$4.200      DuBois
$4.175      Erie
$4.179      Greensburg
$4.181      Indiana
$4.123      Jeannette
$4.194      Kittanning
$4.176      Latrobe
$4.195      Meadville
$4.226      Mercer
$4.191      New Castle
$4.178      New Kensington
$4.199      Oil City
$4.179      Pittsburgh
$4.199      Sharon
$4.203      Uniontown
$4.199      Warren
$4.182      Washington

Trend Analysis: 

Despite several weeks of declining prices, the national average for a gallon of regular gas has risen four cents over the past week to $4.12. Concerns that less Russian oil will enter the global market combined with fears of a COVID-induced economic slowdown in China are causing oil prices to hover around $100 a barrel. As long as the price of oil stays elevated, pump prices could continue to trend upward. This week’s national average is still 12 cents less than a month ago but $1.24 more than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by nearly 1 million barrels to 232.3 million barrels last week. Gasoline demand increased slightly from 8.73 million barrels per day to 8.86 million barrels per day. Although supply and demand factors would have typically supported elevated pump prices, the fluctuating oil price continues to be the main factor influencing prices at the pump.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by $1.72 to settle at $102.07. Crude prices declined despite EIA reporting that total domestic oil inventories decreased by 8.1 million barrels to 413.7 million barrels.

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

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 72 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.