Gas prices drop again, trend could continue

Gas prices continue their decent from their record highs earlier this year and it’s a trend AAA is predicting will continue. 

Gas prices in Pennsylvania are seven cents lower this week at $3.911 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. 

In the Lehigh Valley the average price for a gallon of gas was $3.798 per gallon, down from $3.912 on Sept. 6. 

The price is still higher than it was one year ago. The average price for a gallon of gas on Sept. 13, 2021 was $3.242 per gallon.               

Meanwhile, the national average price for a gallon of gas also fell seven cents in the past week to reach $3.71. 

That’s a level AAA said it has not seen since the beginning of March.  

The primary reason for this decline is the recent lower cost for oil. This trend has helped pump prices fall steadily for three straight months. Today’s national average is 26 cents less than a month ago but 53 cents more than a year ago. 

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $3.25 to settle at $86.79. Although a weakening dollar helped to increase crude prices at the end of the week, prices dropped earlier in the week amid ongoing market concerns that oil demand will fall if economic growth slows or stalls due to a recession. 

 Additionally, EIA’s latest weekly report showed that total commercial crude inventories increased significantly by 8.9 million barrels to 427.2 million barrels.  

According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased slightly from 8.59 million barrels per day to 8.73 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks rose by 300,000 barrels to 214.8 million barrels.  

Although gasoline demand has increased slightly, lower oil prices have led to falling pump prices. If gasoline demand begins to subside, as it typically does post-Labor Day with the end of summer driving, AAA predicted that pump prices could continue to decrease.