Washington, region ring up higher gas prices
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Western Pennsylvania is ringing in the new year with higher gasoline prices.
The average price of a gallon of unleaded self-serve this week is $2.518 – 4.3 cents higher than last week, AAA East Central reported on Monday. This latest figure, however, is 39.2 cents cheaper than it was the first week of January 2020, at $2.910. The agency monitors weekly prices in 23 cities and towns across the region.
The greater Washington area experienced a somewhat dramatic rise this week – 6.3 cents to $2.342 – but fuel remains a better deal here than in most other regional venues. That figure is the third-lowest in in this half of the state, behind New Castle ($2.241) and Latrobe ($2.290).
Washington’s price has been among the three cheapest in Western Pennsylvania for 10 consecutive weeks. A gallon of petrol there is 34.6 cents cheaper than a year ago, at $2.688.
Uniontown’s average increased by 5.3 cents to $2.533, the 11th-lowest price in Western Pennsylvania. Altoona ($2.677) has the region’s most-expensive petrol.
Pennsylvania’s average is $2.564, up 3.5 cents, while the national figure remained at $2.25. The U.S. average is nine cents more per gallon than a month ago, but 33 cents lower year over year. That is the largest January-to-January difference since 2015.
The national price has not changed in 12 days, which is attributed to a combination of consistent crude oil prices ($47 to $48 per barrel) and low demand. The Energy Information Administration said demand – 8.1 million barrels a day – was at its lowest level for the last week of December since 1998.