Gas prices are 13 cents higher in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.655 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average: $3.655
Average price during the week of February 12, 2024: $3.521
Average price during the week of February 21, 2023: $3.806
The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$3.642 Altoona
$3.640 Beaver
$3.657 Bradford
$3.641 Brookville
$3.611 Butler
$3.605 Clarion
$3.651 DuBois
$3.662 Erie
$3.662 Greensburg
$3.681 Indiana
$3.694 Jeannette
$3.605 Kittanning
$3.680 Latrobe
$3.691 Meadville
$3.699 Mercer
$3.543 New Castle
$3.628 New Kensington
$3.694 Oil City
$3.644 Pittsburgh
$3.669 Sharon
$3.702 Uniontown
$3.699 Warren
$3.655 Washington
Trend Analysis:
After months of barely budging more than a few cents, the national average for pump prices jumped 12 cents over the past week to $3.27. A significant contributor is a shutdown at the large BP-Whiting refinery in Indiana, which has been offline for more than two weeks due to a power outage. The refinery processes 435,000 barrels of crude per day, and the shutdown has caused prices throughout the Midwest to climb, pushing the national average higher as well. Today’s national average is 19 cents more than a month ago but 14 cents less than a year ago.
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand decreased from 8.81 to 8.17 million barrels per day last week. Total domestic gasoline stocks declined by 3.7 million barrels to 247.3 million barrels. Lower gas demand would typically push pump prices down, but fluctuating oil prices and tight gas supply is causing price increases.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by $1.23 to settle at $76.64. Oil prices dropped after the EIA reported that total domestic commercial crude stocks increased significantly by 12 million barrels to 439.4 million barrels last week.
Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at gasprices.aaa.com.
