The average price of gasoline across South Central Ohio is 13 cents lower this week at $3.324 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

This week’s average prices: South Central Ohio average: $3.324; Washington Court House average: $3.356

Average price during the week of November 28, 2022 $3.459

Average price during the week of December 6, 2021 $3.182

The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:

$3.396 Athens

$3.338 Chillicothe

$2.993 Columbiana

$3.261 East Liverpool

$3.336 Gallipolis

$3.364 Hillsboro

$3.288 Ironton

$3.552 Jackson

$3.100 Logan

$3.461 Marietta

$3.287 Portsmouth

$3.229 Steubenville

$3.570 Waverly

Trend Analysis:

Today’s nationwide average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $3.38. This is 16 cents lower than last week, 41 cents lower than one month ago, and three cents more than a year ago. This week’s plunge in gas prices nationwide may be partly a result of Sunday’s meeting of OPEC+, a group of 23 oil-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia and Russia. OPEC+ decided to maintain output cuts of 2 million barrels per day, about 2% of world demand. The purpose of the move is to boost the global price of oil, which has fallen recently on fears of demand weakness, specifically in China.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate decreased by $1.24 to settle at $79.98. A weaker dollar contributed to decreasing prices. Earlier in the week, crude prices were boosted by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reporting that total domestic commercial crude stocks fell dramatically by 12.6 million barrels. The domestic commercial crude supply is 14 million barrels lower than at the end of November 2021.

According to data from EIA, gas demand held steady at 3.2 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks rose by nearly 2.8 million barrels to 213.8 million barrels. Increasing supply and steady gasoline demand have contributed to pushing pump prices lower.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at gasprices.aaa.com.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 70 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members. News releases are available at news.eastcentral.aaa.com. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.