AAA: Gas Prices Continue to Drop in Pennsylvania

Gas prices are five cents lower in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.684 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                          $3.684
Average price during the week of March 20, 2023                                             $3.733
Average price during the week of March 28, 2022                                             $4.309

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

$3.656      Altoona
$3.729      Beaver
$3.703      Bradford
$3.708      Brookville
$3.691      Butler
$3.676      Clarion
$3.718      DuBois
$3.658      Erie
$3.713      Greensburg
$3.690      Indiana
$3.795      Jeannette
$3.695      Kittanning
$3.706      Latrobe
$3.683      Meadville
$3.715      Mercer
$3.561      New Castle
$3.696      New Kensington
$3.692      Oil City
$3.716      Pittsburgh
$3.549      Sharon
$3.647      Uniontown
$3.699      Warren
$3.641      Washington

Trend Analysis: 

With the arrival of spring and better driving weather, gas demand surged over the last week. However, fears of a recession caused global oil prices to hover near $70 a barrel, which is keeping gas prices lower. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline dropped three cents since last week to hit $3.43. Today’s national average is four cents more than a month ago but 80 cents less than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.59 million to 8.96 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased significantly by 6.4 million barrels to 229.6 million barrels last week. Increasing demand amid tighter supply would typically push pump prices higher; however, recent lower oil prices have pushed gas prices down.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate did increase by $1.23 to settle at $70.90. Crude prices rose after the EIA reported that demand grew amid a reduction in gasoline stocks, signaling to the market that demand may be more robust than anticipated this year despite ongoing economic concerns. Additionally, the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude inventories increased by 1.1 million barrels to 481.2 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 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.