Energy

US Gas Price Remains Near 3-Month Low

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The average U.S. price for a gallon of regular gasoline did not change in the past week, holding on at $2.825, according to the latest data from GasBuddy. The price has been steady for three of the past four weeks and posted a penny per gallon drop in the other. Pump prices reached a year-to-date high of $2.97 on the Friday ahead of the Memorial Day holiday and have been declining slowly ever since.

Month over month, the price is down 2.6 cents a gallon and remains about 47 cents a gallon higher year over year. Last month the national average was $2.855, while the year-ago average was $2.362.

Retail gasoline prices slipped in 22 states this week, remained unchanged in just one (Vermont), and rose in 27 others.

Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said:

Gas prices nationally saw little change in the last week as oil prices saw a mini-resurgence back to $69 per barrel, stifling the broad relief we saw at pumps the week prior. With Labor Day ahead, we may see a small rise in the national average this week, depending on oil’s move, but largely this seems like the last week we’ll see elevated prices as demand is set to drop with the conclusion of Labor Day weekend. The Atlantic remains quiet, so there’s little chance of a major disruption for the time being, with the consensus that we’ll soon see prices falling once again across most of the country.

According to GasBuddy, states where prices moved most last week were: Ohio (up 12 cents); Michigan (up 10 cents); Wyoming (up five cents); Indiana (up three cents);  Virginia and Nebraska (down three cents); North Dakota and Tennessee (down two cents); and Utah (up two cents).

States with the lowest average prices last week included: South Carolina ($2.51); Alabama and Mississippi ($2.52); Arkansas ($2.56); Oklahoma and Louisiana ($2.57); Tennessee and Missouri ($2.58); Kansas ($2.59); and Virginia ($2.60).

The highest average prices per gallon last week were reported from Hawaii ($3.71); California ($3.58); Washington ($3.35); Alaska ($3.31); Idaho ($3.24); Oregon ($3.23); Utah ($3.19); Nevada ($3.17); Pennsylvania ($3.02); and Connecticut ($3.01).

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for October delivery traded down less than 0.1% just after noon Monday at $68.69, while Brent for October delivery traded at $75.96. The price differential (spread) between WTI and Brent crude increased by $1.31 to $7.27 a barrel week over week.

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