AAA: Gas Prices Lower in Western PA; Crude Oil Prices Still Climbing

January 25, 2022

Gas prices are one penny cheaper in Western Pennsylvania this week at $3.508 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. 

This week’s average prices: Western Pennsylvania Average                $3.508
Average price during the week of January 18, 2022                               $3.511
Average price during the week of January 25, 2021                               $2.735

The average price of gas in Warren County is $3.579

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

$3.536      Altoona
$3.540      Beaver
$3.582      Bradford
$3.349      Brookville
$3.446      Butler
$3.518      Clarion
$3.364      DuBois
$3.547      Erie
$3.479      Greensburg
$3.539      Indiana
$3.463      Jeannette
$3.497      Kittanning
$3.487      Latrobe
$3.561      Meadville
$3.583      Mercer
$3.421      New Castle
$3.522      New Kensington
$3.579      Oil City
$3.527      Pittsburgh

$3.444      Sharon
$3.556      Uniontown
$3.579      Warren
$3.478      Washington

Trend Analysis:

Despite typical low seasonal demand for gasoline, pump prices are clawing their way higher. The national average for a gallon of gas is $3.33, two cents more than a week ago. The culprit is the rising price for oil, which is now around $85 per barrel, nearly $20 more than in November. Last week, both OPEC and U.S. energy officials said the COVID-19 omicron variant is no longer expected to slow the continued recovery of petroleum demand in 2022. Despite this, OPEC and its allies are maintaining their planned modest production increases and will not dramatically ramp up output. The result will be a continued tight supply of oil.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by 41 cents to settle at $85.14. Although crude prices ended the day down due to weather-related demand concerns, prices generally rose last week despite the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting that total domestic crude stocks increased by 500,000 barrels to 413.8 million barrels. The current crude stock level is approximately 15 percent lower than in mid-January 2021, contributing to pressure on domestic crude prices.

According to new data from the EIA, total domestic gasoline stocks rose by 5.9 million barrels to 246.6 million barrels last week. Meanwhile, gasoline demand rose slightly from 7.91 million barrels per day to 8.22 million barrels per day. The slight increase still puts gas demand in the average range for the winter driving season. Typically, pump prices drop due to low gas demand and a rise in supply, but a steady increase in the price of crude oil has prevented this from happening.

Today’s national average of $3.33 is five cents more than a month ago and 94 cents more than a year ago.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.

         

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