A sharp drop in demand led to gas prices to decline in Delaware and other areas.
However, Wilmington-based AAA is warning drivers that this dip in prices may not last long. An increase of $1.10 in the price of crude oil could send prices back up just before the Memorial Day holiday weekend.
The price at the pump in Delaware has fallen to about $2.60 a gallon in some areas and remained unchanged over the weekend, but rose a penny today. (See Friday-Sunday figures below:
|
|
|||
|
Pennsylvania
|
$3.00
|
$3.00
|
$3.01
|
|
New Jersey
|
$2.90
|
$2.90
|
$2.90
|
|
Delaware
|
$2.64
|
$2.64
|
$2.64
|
|
Maryland
|
$2.76
|
$2.76
|
$2.75
|
|
Philadelphia (5-county)
|
$3.00
|
$3.00
|
$3.01
|
|
South Jersey
|
$2.80
|
$2.80
|
$2.80
|
|
Bloomsburg
|
$2.95
|
$2.95
|
$2.95
|
|
Wilkes-Barre
|
$2.98
|
$2.99
|
$2.99
|
|
National
|
$2.85
|
$2.85
|
$2.85
|
At the close of NYMEX trading Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled at $62.76 per barrel, $1.10 higher than last Friday’s close.
Escalating international tensions have been affecting crude prices, as collapsing Venezuelan oil exports, worsening tensions in the Middle East following the damage of two Saudi Arabian crude tankers, as well as Saudi Arabia’s announcement that armed drones hit two of its oil pumping stations, have stoked fears about global crude oil supply.
“Although drivers may see a jump at the pump just before the Memorial Day holiday, it won’t stop the more than 37 million Americans planning a road trip to mark the unofficial start of summer,” says Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “Right now, Delaware Valley drivers are paying more than 10 cents less than they did last Memorial Day.”
Nearly 43 million Americans (up 3.6 percent from 2018) will say hello to summer by traveling 50 miles or more away from home this Memorial Day.
Despite a national gas price average that has inched closer to the $3 per gallon mark, the vast majority of holiday travelers – 37.6 million or 88 percent – will drive to their destinations.
To check out prices in your neighborhood, log on to AAA’s Fuel Price Finder (http://www.AAA.com/fuelfinder) locates the lowest fuel price in your area.
