Summer Brake? Gas Prices Stationary at the Station

Barely budging since June, the national average for a gallon of gas squeaked out a two-penny increase to $3.52 since last week. The national average has hovered around $3.50 per gallon since June 26th.

“Some of the uptick in gasoline prices may be due to a reported storm-related outage at the ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Illinois. That’s contributing to higher pump prices in the upper Midwest,” said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. “Meanwhile, oil prices have fallen quite a bit lately. In April, a barrel of oil was in the upper $80s, but today, it is $10 a barrel cheaper. That might mitigate any upward pressure on pump prices.”

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand rose unexpectedly from 8.78 million b/d to 9.45 last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks fell from 233 to 227.4 million barrels. Gasoline production rose last week, averaging 10.2 million barrels per day. Higher gasoline demand but lower oil costs may keep pump prices relatively stable for now.

Today’s national average is $3.52, six cents more than a month ago but 11 cents less than a year ago.

Quick Stats

Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest weekly changes in their averages: Michigan (+28 cents), Illinois (+23 cents), Wisconsin (+17 cents), Indiana (+16 cents), Ohio (+10 cents), Nevada (-7 cents), California (-7 cents), Delaware (-6 cents), Kentucky (+5 cents), and Tennessee (-5 cents).

The nation’s top 10 least expensive markets are Mississippi ($2.98), Louisiana ($3.07), Tennessee ($3.09), Arkansas ($3.12), Oklahoma ($3.13), Texas ($3.13), Alabama ($3.15), Kansas ($3.16), Missouri ($3.20), South Carolina ($3.21).

Oil Market Dynamics

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, WTI rose 63 cents to settle at $77.59 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories decreased by 3.7 million barrels from the previous week. At 436.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.

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