Delaware gas prices are headed upward after a sharp decline in recent weeks.
The price of regular rose by four cents a gallon during the past week but is still about 50 cents lower than this period a month ago. That amounts to about a driver saving more than $7 on a 15-gallon fill-up.
Delaware gas prices were the sixth the lowest in the nation, thanks in part to the state’s low gas tax. While that figure forces transportation officials to stretch dollars for construction projects, some of the loss is recouped when out-of-state drivers fill up here.
At times, Delaware gas prices don’t reflect the low gas tax figure but have in recent weeks.
A number of station-convenience stores in Delaware have dropped prices below $3 a gallon. The price leaders on Friday appeared to be membership clubs Costco and BJ’s, which were charging $2.87 a gallon. However, other stations had raised their prices.
| Timeframe | Regular | Mid-Grade | Premium | Diesel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Avg. | $3.151 | $3.671 | $3.992 | $4.259 |
| Yesterday Avg. | $3.105 | $3.623 | $3.933 | $4.195 |
| Week Ago Avg. | $3.112 | $3.671 | $3.978 | $4.184 |
| Month Ago Avg. | $3.663 | $4.172 | $4.442 | $4.571 |
| Year Ago Avg. | $3.650 | $4.100 | $4.388 | $5.468 |
Nationwide, gas prices fell more slowly in the past couple of weeks. “While gas prices are falling about a penny a day, that feels like a glacial pace,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “The oil market is watching to see if the war between Israel and Hamas widens, so the price is stuck at a rather elevated price in the mid-$80s per barrel. This, in turn, is slowing the decline in gas prices.”
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.58 to 8.94 million barrels a day last week. Total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 2.4 million barrels to 223.3 million barrels.
Although higher demand and tightening supply typically increase pump prices, flat oil prices have had the opposite effect. If oil prices remain steady or fall, drivers can expect further price drops at the pump in the weeks ahead, but perhaps not in Delaware.
Crude oil prices hovered around the $90 a barrel mark.
Critics of the current administration have claimed that troubles in the Mideast and restrictions on drilling could lead to 1970s-style gas lines and sky-high gas prices.
Since that time, the U.S. has become the world’s largest oil producer and actually exports oil to Europe.
