Gasoline prices lack direction
Gasoline price movement was a mixed bag last week, with the New York state average holding steady, the national average rising, and prices in the Mid-Hudson Valley going in both directions, GasBuddy.com reported Monday.
Local averages Monday morning, according to GasBuddy, were $2.16 per gallon in Ulster County, up 6 cents from a week earlier; $2.25 in Dutchess County, down nine cents (after rising 10 cents the previous week); and $2.27 in Greene County, up a penny.
The New York state average Monday was $2.23 per gallon, unchanged from a week earlier, GasBuddy reported. The national average rose 3.4 cents per gallon, to $2.17.
“Gasoline prices have continued to rise across the U.S., a streak that enters its ninth week, but with a resurgence in COVID-19 cases across several states, and with ... data showing the first weekly drop in gasoline demand since Memorial Day and just the second one since March, there may eventually be a small reckoning in the price of gasoline,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
“A slowdown in COVID would cause gas prices to continue rising, while a continued resurgence in COVID-19 cases and a drop in gasoline demand will mean lower gas prices,” DeHaan said.
New York state’s average gas price Monday was 5.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago but still 63 cents lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy. The national average Monday was 19.7 cents per gallon higher than a month ago but 53.4 cents lower than a year ago.
Over the past five years, the average gasoline price on June 29 in New York state has been: $2.86 per gallon in 2019, $2.99 in 2018, $2.43 in 2017, $2.42 in 2016 and $2.94 in 2015.
For live fuel price averages, go to fuelinsights. gasbuddy.com.