Gas prices throughout the Delaware Valley remain at the highest levels of 2021, despite the calendar (and weather) shift to autumn.
Prices at the pump in the area remain steady or within a penny of last week’s prices, and close to $1 more per gallon than this time last year, according to Wilmington-based AAA Mid-Atlantic.
The national average rose a penny on the week to $3.19 after matching a seven-year-high in the previous week.
The major culprit in keeping pump prices high is the price of crude oil, which is above $75 per barrel, almost $40 higher than this time last year.
Discounted gas was still available in Middletown, with one station charging $2.86 a gallon. Not far behind was the Costco membership club in Christiana at $2.90 a gallon.
Monday’s AAA report:
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Pennsylvania’s gas average is $3.33 today, unchanged overnight and up 2 cents in the last week.
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The Philadelphia (5-county) area gas average is $3.32 today, unchanged overnight and unchanged in the last week.
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New Jersey’s gas average is $3.22 today, unchanged overnight and unchanged in the last week.
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S. Jersey’s gas average is $3.16 today, unchanged overnight and unchanged in the last week.
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Delaware’s gas average is $3.08 today, unchanged overnight and unchanged in the last week.
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Dover’s gas average is $3.09 today, unchanged overnight and unchanged in the last week.
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The National gas average is $3.20 today, up a penny overnight and up 2 cents in the last week.
In NYMEX trading on Monday, crude oil rose to $77 a barrel (highest close since July 2021). OPEC has no plans to sharply increase oil supplies, a move that will put upward pressure on prices.
A Southern California oil spill that is affecting wildlife and beaches will also increase calls to tighten regulations on production and infrastructure.
Crude prices have been on the rise as economies recover from COVID-19 and fuel demand increases. U.S. stockpiles rose last week according to the Energy Information Administration to 11.1 million barrels per day, bringing production to pre-Hurricane Ida levels. However, U.S. production has yet to recapture the levels seen at the end of 2019 when output rose to nearly 13 million barrels per day.
“Consumers should see the usual autumn relief at the pump,” said Jana Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AA Mid-Atlantic. “But factor in that approximately 16% of crude production in the Gulf of Mexico is still shut down because of Hurricanes Ida and Nicholas and the concerns about what higher Covid cases could do to the economy, and this uncertainty is helping to keep oil prices elevated.”
To check out gas prices in your area, log on to AAA’s Fuel Price Finder, (http://www.AAA.com/fuelfinder).
