Gas prices going up, but Washington still among region’s lowest
Motorists aren’t pumped up by prices at the pump – here or virtually anywhere else across the country, according to a report from AAA East Central.
A gallon of unleaded self-serve gasoline costs an average $2.928 in Western Pennsylvania this week, up 4.5 cents from last week – and 26.1 cents from $2.667 the week of April 17, 2017. The price, statewide, is at its highest level in 3 ½ years, at $2.92. It last hit $2.90 in September.
And more bad news . . . the nationwide average – $2.71 – is at its most expensive point in nearly three years. That figure is up 5 cents from last week. Motorists are paying more than $3 a gallon in six states on or near the West Coast.
There is an element of good news in this part of the country. Gasoline inventories increased 3 million barrels, a second consecutive weekly bump upward, in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.
Despite a continued climb, gas prices in Washington remained among the most affordable in Western Pennsylvania. Its average this week was $2.899, fourth lowest among 22 Western Pennsylvania cities and towns listed by AAA.
Uniontown ($2.804) had the second-lowest price of petrol listed, just ahead of New Castle ($2.897). Sharon, whose average usually among the lowest, had the cheapest gas per gallon – $2.780. Warren ($2.990) had the most expensive.