Gas prices fell by five cents a gallon in Delaware during the past week.
In the new weekly report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand saw an uptick but is still lower than this time last year.
The national gas price average for regular is $2.18, down two cents in the last week, up a penny in the last month, and down 47 cents from this time last year.
The lowest price at the pump in Delaware was the Sam’s Club in Dover at $1.94 a gallon. Other stations in Dover also lowered prices. Warehouse clubs in New Castle County were posting prices of $2 for regular.
The gas price gap between South Jersey and Delaware is down to a few cents a gallon after being as high as a dime. New Jersey’s gas price is 18 cents higher than the Delaware figure.
Monday gas prices
- Pennsylvania gas average at $2.48 today, unchanged overnight and down 2 cents in the last week.
- New Jersey gas average at $2.19 today, unchanged overnight and down 2 cents in the last week.
- Delaware gas average at $2.19 today, unchanged overnight and down 5 cents in the last week.
- Maryland gas average at $2.23 today, unchanged overnight and down 3 cents in the last week.
- Philadelphia (5-county) area gas average at $2.45 today, unchanged overnight and down 2 cents in the last week.
- S. Jersey gas average at $2.15 today, unchanged overnight and down 3 cents in the last week.
- National gas average at $2.18 today, unchanged overnight and down a penny in the last week.
At the close of NYMEX trading Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled at $41.11 per barrel, $3.78 higher than last Friday’s close.
Domestic crude prices increased after EIA’s weekly report revealed that total domestic crude inventories decreased last week which could signal that supply and demand are beginning to rebalance, even as crude production grew last week.
Crude prices may continue to increase if supplies grow tighter, but demand challenges could contain potential growth in prices.
“Typically lower supply levels translate into higher pump prices. However, even with consistent declines in gasoline stocks, that’s just not the case right now,” says Jana L. Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “Despite the steady supply dip, continued low levels of demand helped push local and national gas prices cheaper on the week.”
Mid-September is when gas stations make the switch to winter-blend gasoline, which is less expensive to produce than summer-blend gasoline. The difference between the two blends comes down to Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP), which is a measure of how easily the fuel evaporates at a given temperature.
To check out gas prices in your neighborhood, log on to AAA’s Fuel Price Finder (http://www.AAA.com/fuelfinder), which locates the lowest fuel price in your area.
