After several weeks of gas prices retreating from record highs, prices at the pump are spiking again and AAA East Central said OPEC and demand are the main drivers of the increase.
Gas prices in Pennsylvania are 14 cents higher this week at $3.913 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s most recent Gas Price Report.
In the Lehigh Valley the average price for a gallon of gas rose to $3.848 on Oct. 11, up from $3.640 a week prior.
The average price for a gallon of gas one year ago was $3.404 in the Lehigh Valley.
Nationally, the average price for a gallon of gas rose almost 12 cents over the past week to hit $3.923. Today’s national average is almost 12 cents higher than a month ago and almost 65 cents more than a year ago.
AAA said Higher crude prices and increased domestic demand are the main factors currently affecting gas prices.
The OPEC+ recent announcement that the group of oil-producing nations would slash output by 2 million barrels per day led to the price of oil creeping above $90 a barrel for the first time in several weeks, said AAA.
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate increased by $4.19 to settle at $92.64. Additionally, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic crude inventories declined by 1.4 million barrels to 429.2 million barrels.
EIA’s latest weekly report also showed gas demand increased nationally from 8.83 million barrels per day to 9.47 million barrels per day last week.
Total domestic gasoline stocks decreased significantly by 4.7 million barrels to 207.5 million barrels. High gasoline demand, amid tight supply, has led to higher pump prices nationwide, said AAA.