The Mercury (Pottstown, PA)

Gas prices: Who says Mondays are all bad?

- By Digital First Media

BOSTON>> Gasoline prices are the most expensive they’ve been in more than 19 months and will continue to increase with summer driving season approachin­g. Gas Buddy, which is a tool available on the The Mercury website, Wednesday issued a new study that found the best and worst days of the week to buy gas when it comes to optimal savings.

Monday is the best day to fill up

Gas Buddy analyzed three years worth of fuel price data and found that Monday offers the lowest average, making it the best day to fill the tank. Thursday is the worst day to buy gas, having the most expensive average. However, the best day depends on what part of the country drivers are located:

• In 2017 so far, Monday is the best day of the week in 23 states. For Pennsylvan­ia, the best day is also Monday, while the worst is a tie — Thursday and Saturday.

• In 2016, Monday was the day featuring the lowest average gasoline prices in 36 states, while eight states saw Tuesday as the best day to fill up.

• In 2014, Wednesday was the day of the week offering the lowest average gasoline prices. While the data

To put theamount of savings into perspectiv­e: If every U.S. motorist bought gasoline on Thursday for an entire year, they’d collective­ly spend an extra $1.1 billion versus filling up on Monday— the lowest priced day of the week.

reveals that the best day changes year-to-year and state-to-state, it concludes that fueling earlier in the week can result in savings for many motorists, along with price shopping for the lowest price.

“The rise in average prices towards the weekend could be to blame on an influentia­l report from the Energy Informatio­n Administra­tion, or EIA, issued weekly on Wednesdays, which could push prices higher the day after, depending on if data in its report is as expected or a surprise,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. “Since commoditie­s trading isn’t active over the weekend, it typically allows stations to ‘let it ride’ over the weekend, culminatin­g in lower prices by the start of the work week.”

To put the amount of savings into perspectiv­e: If every U.S. motorist bought gasoline on Thursday for an entire year, they’d collective­ly spend an extra

$1.1 billion versus filling up on Monday — the lowest priced day of the week.

GasBuddy comes in a smartphone app that connects more than 60 million

drivers with their Perfect Pit Stop gas price informatio­n.

 ?? SUBMITTED PHOTO ?? A graphic fromGasBud­dy shows the best days of theweek to fill up and top off your car’s gas tank.
SUBMITTED PHOTO A graphic fromGasBud­dy shows the best days of theweek to fill up and top off your car’s gas tank.

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