Gas prices in South Central Ohio remain at $2.732 per gallon this week, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Comparing pump prices to those this time last year, Ohio motorists are paying 47-cents more to fill-up. With a 430,000 barrel draw, inventories in the Great Lakes and Central region fell this week to 56.6 million according to the latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

Today’s average prices: South Central Ohio Average $2.732

Average price during the week of April 23, 2018 $2.728

Average price during the week of May 1, 2017 $2.281

Here is the price per gallon of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:

$2.829 Athens

$2.761 Chillicothe

$2.637 Columbiana

$2.616 East Liverpool

$2.695 Gallipolis

$2.699 Hillsboro

$2.666 Ironton

$2.775 Jackson

$2.803 Logan

$2.689 Marietta

$2.623 Portsmouth

$2.803 Steubenville

$2.846 Washington Court House

$2.812 Waverly

On the National Front

Hitting $2.81, today’s national gas price average has reached the highest price per gallon since November 2014. That year, pump prices averaged $3.34, peaking at $3.70 in April and bottoming out at $2.25 in December. On the week, gasoline demand took a notable drop from its record high the previous week, falling by 774,000 b/d, according to the EIA. At 9.083 million b/d, gasoline demand is now more in line with rates typically seen during the spring driving season.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate dropped 9-cents to settle at $68.10. Following EIA’s report that revealed crude inventories moved higher by 2.2 million barrels, oil prices were mostly stable last week, but remained near the three year highs they reached earlier this month.

Total U.S. crude oil output increased to 10.586 million b/d. The big news in U.S. crude production this week is in exports, which surged to 2.331 million b/d last week – the highest weekly estimate ever on record from the EIA. The new record high bested the last record, which was set in mid-February of this year.

Crude production in the U.S. is likely to continue its ascent. It has grown considerably alongside the total number of active rigs. According to Baker Hughes, the total number of rigs increased by five last week, bringing the total to 825. There are 128 more rigs this year than this time last year.

Motorists can find current gas prices nationwide, statewide, and countywide at GasPrices.AAA.com.

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 80 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.