Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by two cents to $2.88. High crude prices and growing refinery utilization — which increased from 69 to 76 percent last week according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) — have contributed to gas prices increasing this week. However, increased gasoline stocks and a decrease in demand have helped to slow the rate at which prices have increased. Total domestic gas stocks increased by 500,000 bbl to 232.1 million bbl, while demand decreased from 8.73 million b/d to 8.44 million b/d. Gas prices are likely to continue to increase in the coming days, but if these trends continue, prices will increase at a slower rate than Americans have seen since the beginning of the month.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI decreased by $4.60 to settle at $60. Crude prices dipped due to market concern that demand may stumble as some countries restart coronavirus restrictions to curb growing infection rates. The decrease in crude prices has also been supported by EIA reporting that total crude inventories increased by 2.4 million bbl to 500.8 million bbl. 

Largest Weekly Increases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Utah (+19 cents), Idaho (+14 cents), Kentucky (+11 cents), Nevada (+11 cents), Illinois (+11 cents), Mississippi (+10 cents), Alabama (+10 cents), Arkansas (+9 cents), Louisiana (+9 cents) and Georgia (+9 cents).