AAA: Gas Prices Drop in PA

Gas prices are three cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.963 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                $3.963
Average price during the week of October 17, 2022                                $3.990
Average price during the week of October 25, 2021                                $3.581

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

$3.954      Altoona
$4.008      Beaver
$3.999      Bradford
$3.666      Brookville
$3.986      Butler
$3.990      Clarion
$3.865      DuBois
$3.946      Erie
$3.959      Greensburg
$3.965      Indiana
$3.982      Jeannette
$3.986      Kittanning
$3.956      Latrobe
$3.996      Meadville
$4.079      Mercer
$3.930      New Castle
$3.968      New Kensington
$3.999      Oil City
$3.988      Pittsburgh
$3.972      Sharon
$3.990      Uniontown
$3.999      Warren
$3.967      Washington

Trend Analysis: 

The national average pump price fell nine cents over the past week to hit $3.79. It has dropped daily since October 11, primarily due to lower oil prices and fewer drivers than usual fueling up. Today’s national average is nine cents higher than a month ago and 41 cents more than a year ago.

Global recession fears and the government’s plan to continue tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve into December have helped temper oil prices. While this announcement will help take some of the pressure off pump prices, the exact pricing impact remains uncertain.

According to recent data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased slightly from 8.28 million barrels per day to 8.68 million barrels per day last week. Total domestic gasoline stocks decreased marginally from 209.5 million barrels to 209.4 million barrels. Although gasoline demand is up slightly, it remains nearly 1 million barrels lower than this date last year.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by 54 cents to settle at $85.05. Although crude prices increased after the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude inventories dropped by 1.7 million barrels to 437.4 million barrels last week, the price of oil had declined earlier in the week due to ongoing market concerns about crude demand as recession fears increased.

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

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 71 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.