Gas prices remain stable as crude oil price jumps on OPEC news

Gas prices in Delaware dropped a couple of pennies during the week,  Wilmington-based AAA Mid-Atlantic reported. 

Gas prices remain within 10 cents of last year’s average. East Coast gasoline stocks increased on the week and winter weather curbed gasoline demand.

CURRENT AND PAST GAS PRICE AVERAGES
Regular Unleaded Gasoline (*indicates record high)

According to AAA’s Fuel Price Finder, the price at the pump has fallen to $2.25 a gallon or lower in some areas. The Newark and Elsmere areas, which still have independent stations posted prices below $2.25.

At the close of NYMEX trading Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled at $59.20 per barrel, $4.03 higher than last Friday’s close.

Oil prices gained more than four percent on Wednesday, as a result of a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude inventories and hopes of deeper production cuts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC and Russia agreed Thursday to make further cuts in oil production to help support crude prices.  

“Gasoline stocks have steadily increased the past few weeks as gasoline demand has started to slow following the busy Thanksgiving travel holiday,” said Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “While those trends can create cheaper gas prices, there may still be some price volatility because of rising crude prices.”

During Thursday’s OPEC meeting in Vienna, OPEC and allied producers agreed to cut production by an additional 500,000 barrels per day until March 2020. The cuts must be unanimously approved by the entire OPEC group and will be reviewed again during the March meeting.  Following the official production cut announcement, crude prices headed toward the $60 mark, but experts say the details of the agreement could determine which way crude prices will move.

Fuel Price Finder (http://www.AAA.com/fuelfinder) locates the lowest fuel price in your area.