AAA: Gas Prices Continue to Fall in Pennsylvania

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                          $3.676
Average price during the week of May 22, 2023                                                $3.690
Average price during the week of May 31, 2022                                                $4.701

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

$3.696      Altoona
$3.744      Beaver
$3.700      Bradford
$3.520      Brookville
$3.711      Butler
$3.667      Clarion
$3.510      DuBois
$3.671      Erie
$3.737      Greensburg
$3.725      Indiana
$3.712      Jeannette
$3.759      Kittanning
$3.725      Latrobe
$3.684      Meadville
$3.720      Mercer
$3.521      New Castle
$3.723      New Kensington
$3.688      Oil City
$3.748      Pittsburgh
$3.519      Sharon
$3.699      Uniontown
$3.699      Warren
$3.667      Washington

Trend Analysis: 

The seasonal surge in gasoline demand leading into the long holiday weekend resulted in the national average for a gallon of gas rising three cents over the past week to $3.57. The rise in gasoline demand is helping to push pump prices higher, but the increases are tempered by the lower cost of oil, which is currently in the low $70s per barrel. Today’s national average is four cents less than a month ago and $1.04 less than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.91 to 9.43 million barrels per day last week. Rising demand has helped to boost pump prices. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 2 million barrels to 216.3 million barrels.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $1.43 to settle at $74.34. Oil prices rose amid growing market optimism that energy demand is rebounding. However, price increases were capped due to the market expecting another interest rate increase from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which could result in the economy tipping into a recession. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude inventories decreased significantly by 12.4 million barrels to 455.2 million barrels last week.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at gasprices.aaa.com.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 69 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.