Susquehanna Valley motorists can enjoy a slight reprieve at the pumps this week, as gas prices fell almost four cents to $3.39 a gallon.
Nationally
Today's national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.51. This price is one cent less expensive than one week ago, 13 cents less than one month ago and 31 cents less than one year ago.
Motorists in the vast majority of states have seen the price of gasoline continue to fall during the last week; however, drivers in nine states, including parts of the Midwest, actually saw prices increase during this period. Gas stations in much of the country must make the retail switch to selling summer-blend gasoline by June 1, however refineries make the shift to summer blend in March and April in order to meet a May 1 production deadline. During this switch regional production is reduced and supplied markets are more sensitive to unexpected disruptions, as was the case during the recent storms in the Midwest.
While retail gas prices have continued to fall nationally, crude oil prices have reversed their recent slide and jumped higher in the last week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil began last week at $88.76 per barrel but rose sharply to end the week at $93. This increase continued today as a weaker dollar kept upward pressure on oil prices. Oil futures are traded in U.S. dollars and as the dollar weakens against foreign currencies, these futures become relatively less expensive to purchase and are a more attractive investment. At the close of Monday's formal trading on the NYMEX, WTI settled up $1.50 cents at $94.50 per barrel.
(AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 82 local offices in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, New York and Kentucky servicing 2.7 million members.)
This week's Susquehanna Valley average price: $3.390
Average price during the week of April 23, 2013: $3.429
The following is a list of the average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:
$3.287 Lewisburg
$3.387 Mifflinburg
$3.328 Milton
$3.465 Selinsgrove
$3.408 Shamokin
$3.464 Sunbury