Gas prices here flat
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
As a major pipeline disruption squeezed gasoline inventories, average retail gasoline prices in the Pittsburgh region have stayed about flat, averaging about $2.37 a gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy’s survey of more than 700 stations in southwestern Pennsylvania.
That compares with U.S. prices averaging about $2.20 per gallon, up 3 cents since the discovery of a leak forced the closure of a critical pipeline supplying gasoline to the eastern United States. While the damage was limited to price spikes in Southeast states, analysts suggested it could delay the lower prices expected with cooler weather.
“While it appears that the worst may be behind us, we're not out of the woods yet, where gasoline inventory levels are concerned,” said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “The overall drop in gasoline inventory tied to Colonial Pipeline was approximately 8.5 million barrels. To put that in perspective, in the two weeks following Hurricane Katrina, East Coast gasoline inventories shed 3.3 million barrels.”
Pittsburgh prices on Monday were 6 cents per gallon lower than one year ago and $1.14 a gallon lower than this time in 2014. Prices around southwestern Pennsylvania have fallen about 2 cents in the past month, and fall is expected to bring lower demand and a cheaper blend of gasoline that refineries produce for winter driving.
Amid a global oversupply, crude oil prices over the past several months have struggled to break $50 a barrel, which is less than half its value from 2014 when gasoline prices were well above $3 a gallon. The global oil benchmark, which is closely tied to the price of U.S. gasoline, hovered near $47 a barrel this morning, wavering in anticipation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is meeting to discuss news reports that a deal is near among large oil-producing countries to stabilize oil prices.
State-by-state comparisons show most areas of the country saw slight increases over the last week. Pennsylvania currently has the 11th-most expensive gasoline in the country at $2.34 a gallon.