Delaware’s gas price fell by three cents a gallon over the past week as the crude oil market recovered from a slump over concerns about the new omicron variant.
The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded dipped 4 cents on the week to $3.33, the lowest national average in a month and a half.
CURRENT AND PAST GAS PRICE AVERAGES
Regular Unleaded Gasoline (*indicates record high)
| 12/10/21 | Week Ago | Year Ago | |
| National | $3.33 | $3.37 | $2.15 |
| Pennsylvania | $3.56 | $3.57 | $2.53 |
| Philadelphia(5-county) | $3.56 | $3.57 | $2.52 |
| South Jersey | $3.34 | $3.36 | $2.28 |
| Delaware | $3.29 | $3.32 | $2.34 |
| Crude Oil | $71.67 per barrel (12/10/21) | $66.26 per barrel (12/03/21) | $46.57 per barrel (12/11/20) |
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, WTI settled at $71.67, up to $5.41 (or 8%) on the week, and the highest weekly percentage gain since late August.
Crude oil dropped more than $12 since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and could potentially push fuel prices lower toward the end of the yea. However, this week’s rebound could potentially stall further gas price declines.
Last week, OPEC and its allies, a group referred to as OPEC+, announced it would stick to its plan, for now, to raise production by 400,000 b/d in January. The move was likely in response to the Biden Administration’s call to increase supply to tame high fuel prices.
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks increased by more than four million barrels to 215,422 million barrels last week. Meanwhile, gasoline demand dipped from 9.3 million barrels per day to 8.8 million barrels per day. The slight decrease in demand also contributed to falling prices.
“As usual, the price of oil is the most significant factor in the price consumers are paying for gas so, as oil comes down, so do pump prices,” says Jana Tidwell, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “The recent downward trend comes as a result of fears around the new COVID variant, however after dipping to nearly $65 per barrel last week, the price of crude oil rebounded above $70 per barrel this week, likely to steady the recent drop in gas prices.”
To check out gas prices in your neighborhood, log on to AAA’s Fuel Price Finder.
The lowest prices ($3.08 a gallon) were reported at stations in Middletown and the Kent County town of Hartly.
