CLARION CO., Pa. – Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania are up three cents this week to $3.035 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average: $3.035
Average price during the week of April 19, 2021: $3.002
Average price during the week of April 27, 2020: $2.082
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$2.993 Altoona
$3.073 Beaver
$3.099 Bradford
$3.006 Brookville
$3.056 Butler
$2.999 Clarion
$3.001 DuBois
$3.076 Erie
$2.992 Greensburg
$3.050 Indiana
$3.013 Jeannette
$3.005 Kittanning
$3.009 Latrobe
$3.087 Meadville
$3.099 Mercer
$2.921 New Castle
$3.076 New Kensington
$3.099 Oil City
$3.029 Pittsburgh
$2.999 Sharon
$3.008 Uniontown
$3.099 Warren
$3.004 Washington
Trend Analysis:
At 9.1 million barrels-per-day, U.S. gasoline demand recorded its second-highest measurement since mid-March 2020, indicating that motorists are filling up more often. This latest demand reading is the highest spring number released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in two years. In fact, it is only about 3% below the same week in 2019.
Both demand and supply have steadily increased in the past five weeks, but weekly gasoline supply builds are trending less substantial. On the week, supply only saw a 100,000 barrel build to 234.9 million barrels, most likely due to high consumer demand.
The jump in demand combined with the small increase in supply pushed the national gas price average two cents more expensive on the week to $2.88. This is the largest one-week national increase in the last five weeks.
Cheaper crude oil prices, which are mostly pricing at less than $63 per barrel, and stable and strong refinery utilization (85%) are helping to keep pump price increases at moderate levels. On the week, 35 state averages increased with the majority seeing only one- to three-cent jumps.
Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.
