While local drivers saw the price of gasoline spike over the weekend, price around the rest of country saw a decline for the first time in several months.
Bladen Journal file
ELIZABETHTOWN — Reports on Monday show average gas prices around the country falling for the first time in weeks, prices in Bladen County saw a major price hike over the last week.
On Monday, the average price of gas in Bladen County was $3.42 per gallon. The average in Elizabethtown was $3.44.
Some gas watchers suggested that Hurricane Idalia — which was churning in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, with its probable path forecast to move north up the East Coast in the coming week — could shutter Gulf Coast refineries temporarily until the storm passes.
In the past month, Bladen County had some of the lowest gas prices in the country.
Nationally, for the first time in more than a month, the average price of gasoline has declined, falling 4.0 cents from a week ago to $3.78 per gallon yesterday according to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the country.
The national average is up 5.8 cents from a month ago but 3.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 3.3 cents in the last week and stands at $4.333 per gallon, 70.7 cents lower than one year ago.
“For the first time in weeks, the national average price of gasoline has fallen over the last week as the wholesale price of gasoline has been under seasonal pressure as we near the end of the summer driving season,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
“However, the drop may be short-lived, as one of the nation’s largest refineries partially shut last week after a fire at a storage tank, and as we see more tropical activity that could lead to further disruption,” De Haan said.
“While GasBuddy is closely monitoring Florida for challenges related to Idalia and is prepared to activate the fuel availability tracker, the rest of the nation could see gas price declines reversing pending the outcome of refinery issues that continue to put upward pressure on wholesale gasoline prices,” De Haan said.
OIL PRICES
After rallying for seven straight weeks, oil prices have lost some of their luster, much of which can be blamed on continued weakness in China’s economy, and refinery issues in the U.S. limiting how much crude oil refineries will be able to process. In early Monday trade, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 96 cents per barrel to $80.79, while Brent crude oil was up 67 cents to $85.15 per barrel.
OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS
Last week’s report from the Energy Information Administration showed a large 6.1 million barrel decline in crude oil inventories, which now stand about 2% below the average for this time of year. Gasoline inventories rose 1.5 million barrels, but are about 5% below the five year average for this time of year, while distillate inventories rose 0.9 million barrels, but are 16% below the five year average for this time of year. Refinery utilization inched lower to 94.5% of capacity. Domestic crude oil production continued its rise, posting a 100,000 per barrel rise from the prior week to 12.8 million barrels, the highest level since the pandemic hit in early 2020.
FUEL DEMAND
According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy™ fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a 0.7% decline last week (Sun-Sat), as seasonal demand trends come into focus with summer gasoline demand starting to falter as schools resume. Broken down by PADD region, demand fell 0.6% in PADD 1, rose 1.1% in PADD 2, fell 0.4% in PADD 3, rose 0.3% in PADD 4, and fell 7.5% in PADD 5.
GAS PRICE TRENDS
The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.59 per gallon, down 10 cents from last week, followed by $3.49, $3.69, $3.39, and $3.79 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. gas price is $3.63 per gallon, down 6 cents from last week and about 15 cents lower than the national average.
The top 10% of stations in the country average $5.13 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.21 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($3.26), Louisiana ($3.34), and South Carolina ($3.36).
The states with the highest average prices: California ($5.24), Washington ($5.05), and Hawaii ($4.73).
DIESEL PRICE TRENDS
The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $4.19 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.99, $4.49, $4.29, and $4.09 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. diesel price is $4.21 per gallon, up 2 cents from last week and about 12 cents lower than the national average for diesel.
Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $5.34 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.78 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.91), Mississippi ($3.92), and Louisiana ($3.96).
The states with the highest average diesel prices: California ($5.77), Hawaii ($5.71), and Washington ($5.38).