Following two weeks of a large decline in the region’s gas prices, the average price of gasoline increased almost nine cents across South Central Ohio to $2.580 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

After appearing on the top 10 largest weekly declines list last Monday, Michigan ($2.69) and Ohio’s ($2.55) gas price averages jumped seven and six cents respectively and are the only states in the country to see their averages increase.

Gasoline stocks in the region saw a moderate increase, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, bumping up to 48.9 million barrels as regional refinery utilization took a huge leap – up 6% to total 96%. Utilization in the Great Lakes and Central States has not been this high since early January of this year and will likely keep any price movements moderate for the majority of the region.

This week’s average prices: South Central Ohio Average: $2.580

Average price during the week of June 17, 2019 $2.493

Average price during the week of June 25, 2018 $2.639

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

$2.600 Athens

$2.538 Chillicothe

$2.579 Columbiana

$2.584 East Liverpool

$2.699 Gallipolis

$2.595 Hillsboro

$2.390 Ironton

$2.629 Jackson

$2.583 Logan

$2.597 Marietta

$2.561 Portsmouth

$2.551 Steubenville

$2.630 Washington Court House

$2.585 Waverly

On the National Front

Today’s national average is $2.66, which is two cents less than last week and 18 cents less than a month and year ago. U.S. gasoline demand hit its highest level at 9.93 million b/d, for the week ending June 14. It is the highest level ever recorded since the EIA began publishing data in 1991.

Counterintuitively, as motorists drive demand to new heights, pump prices pushed even cheaper across the country on the week. This is due to the recent trend in cheaper crude pricing and because crude comprises roughly 60% of the costs motorists pay at the pump, drivers are seeing summer savings. When compared to this time last year, domestic crude prices are cheaper by approximately $12 per barrel.

At the end of last week, a massive fire took Philadelphia Energy Solution (PES), the largest on the East Coast, offline, causing concern of what this could do to gas prices this summer. The incident will likely lead to reduced gasoline production at the refinery. However, gasoline from Canada, neighboring refineries, and the Colonial Pipeline are likely solutions to help backfill supply, meet demand and relieve any tightness in gasoline supplies as a result of reduced gasoline production at PES’ refinery and keep gas prices cheap throughout summer.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate increased by 36 cents to settle at $57.43. Crude prices climbed as tension rises in the Middle East.

Approximately 20% of global crude supplies flow through the Gulf of Omans. Moving into this week, if tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalate, the market will likely continue pushing global crude prices higher due to increased market fears that a military standoff between Iran and the U.S. could limit global supply and access to crude.

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

AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 79 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.