Although crude oil prices have dropped to about $100 per barrel amid negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, retail prices for regular gas have continued to increase, rising 25 cents per week for the second consecutive week, according to AAA.
“[G]asoline prices continue to face upward pressure from global supply concerns,” the association said in a news release.
The national average hit $4.558 per gallon Thursday, the highest level since summer of 2022. The highest national average ever tracked by the automobile association was $5.016 on June 14, 2022.
Pennsylvania, with a statewide average of $4.70, remains the 12th most expensive state in the union, and the most expensive on the eastern seaboard. The statewide average increased 36 cents since last week and is $1.38 more expensive than a year ago. State averages range from $3.99 in Oklahoma to $6.17 in California, consistently the most expensive place to fill up in the country.
Within Pennsylvania, prices range from $4.288 in Montour County to $4.81 in Allegheny. Prices generally are highest along the border with Ohio, whose Thursday average was $4.78, 8 cents higher than in Pennsylvania. Ohio is the only border state with a higher average than Pennsylvania.
Northampton County averaged $4.553 Thursday, according to the daily price survey, the lowest average along the banks of the Delaware. The only place cheaper in the region is Carbon County, where it costs $4.501 per gallon for regular gas.
The average for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metropolitan area was $4.581, up 28 cents since last week and up $1.45 since last year. In practical terms, that means it costs $68.72 to pump 15 gallons of regular gasoline into your tank, $4.26 more than last week, and $21.75 more than a year ago.
Those in the Easton area might be tempted to bop over to Warren County, New Jersey to fill their tanks, where the current average is $4.477 per gallon, the lowest in the Garden State. New Jersey’s statewide average is just a few pennies lower than Pennsylvania’s, coming in at $4.551, 28 cents higher than last week.
Price of crude oil
The closing price of Brent Crude Oil continues to fall from its recent closing high of $121.68 on April 29, moving in contrary motion to the retail prices at the pump. Brent is the standard used mostly in European markets.
The price of West Texas Intermediate oil is the touchstone used for the U.S. market. It has been dancing around the $100 per barrel threshold for the past two weeks, closing Wednesday at $96.25. That is 1.42% higher than two weeks ago, according to prices tracked by Business Insider.
While the price of crude is the largest component in the retail price of refined gas, other factors, such as increased demand during the summer driving season and refinery production, also have substantial effects on the price consumers pay at the pump.