AAA: Cold Snap Brings Rising Gas Prices to Pennsylvania

Gas prices are three cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.401 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                          $3.401
Average price during the week of January 16, 2024                                         $3.372
Average price during the week of January 23, 2023                                         $3.779

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

$3.272      Altoona
$3.470      Beaver
$3.596      Bradford
$3.205      Brookville
$3.472      Butler
$3.348      Clarion
$3.273      DuBois
$3.239      Erie
$3.486      Greensburg
$3.485      Indiana
$3.493      Jeannette
$3.643      Kittanning
$3.498      Latrobe
$3.195      Meadville
$3.346      Mercer
$3.109      New Castle
$3.454      New Kensington
$3.399      Oil City
$3.453      Pittsburgh
$3.269      Sharon
$3.470      Uniontown
$3.599      Warren
$3.443      Washington

Trend Analysis: 

The national average for a gallon of gas has increased a penny over the past week to $3.07. A likely culprit is wintery weather, which hampers refining operations and gasoline distribution. This has resulted in some frigid regions seeing pump price jumps. Today’s national average is five cents less than a month ago and 34 cents less than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand remains robust after it took a slight step back from 8.33 to 8.27 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks increased by 3.1 million barrels to 248.1 million barrels. Fluctuating oil prices, alongside robust demand, have pushed pump prices up, but price gains have been capped due to rising stock levels.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by 16 cents to settle at $72.56. Oil prices rose after supply outages due to winter storms caused market concern about tight supply being able to meet demand. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude stocks decreased by 2.5 million barrels to 429.9 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 70 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.