Local drivers are seeing another week of increases at the pump as state gas price averages rise.
Prices are still significantly cheaper year-over-year as local drivers are paying at least 50 cents less than last year.
Delaware gas prices have risen four cents in the past week in Delaware, with the state’s low gas taxes giving convenience store operators more room to raise prices.
As of Monday, the price gap between Delaware and South Jersey was only about five cents a gallon, despite a gas tax in the Garden State that is 18 cents higher than in Delaware.
The price leaders continue to membership clubs Costco and BJ’s in northern Delaware, which post a price of $1.72 a gallon.
- Pennsylvania gas average at $2.31 today, unchanged overnight and up 5 cents in the last week.
- New Jersey gas average at $2.09 today, unchanged overnight and up 3 cents in the last week.
- Delaware gas average at $1.99 today, unchanged overnight and up 4 cents in the last week.
- Maryland gas average at $2.11 today, unchanged overnight and up 7 cents in the last week.
- Philadelphia (5-county) area gas average at $2.29 today, unchanged overnight and up 4 cents in the last week.
- S. Jersey gas average at $2.04 today, up a penny overnight and up 5 cents in the last week.
- National gas average at $2.10 today, unchanged overnight and up 7 cents in the last week.
At the close of NYMEX trading Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled at $36.26 per barrel, $3.29 lower than last Friday’s close. The price of crude oil dropped more than $3 Thursday, following a weekly increase in U.S. inventories, evidence of climbing COVID-19 cases and a murky economic outlook from the Federal Reserve.
Prices had been on the upswing earlier in the week, boosted by the news that OPEC+ countries had agreed to extend oil production cuts into at least July.
“As crude oil prices and gasoline demand rise, local drivers will see gas prices increase, which is typical during the summer driving season. However, gas prices will be cheaper than last summer,” says Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “As our region continues to reopen and pump prices increase, drivers are still paying at least 50 cents per gallon less than this time last year.”
According to the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Short Term Energy Outlook, reduced economic activity related to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused changes and uncertainties in energy supply and demand patterns in 2020. The forecast for rising crude oil prices reflects expected declines in global oil inventories during the second half of 2020 and through 2021.
To check out gas prices in your area, log on to (http://www.AAA.com/fuelfinder).
