Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has decreased by a penny to $3.29. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks increased by 5.5 million bbl to 224.1 million bbl last week. On the other hand, gasoline demand decreased from 9.47 million b/d to 8.99 million b/d. Typically, falling demand and increased supply would support higher drops in pump prices, but fluctuations in the price of crude oil have helped to keep pump prices elevated. If crude prices continue to climb, pump prices will likely follow suit.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by $1.03 to settle at $73.79. Despite demand concerns over the omicron variant of COVID-19, crude prices increased this week after the EIA reported that total domestic crude stocks decreased by 4.7 million bbl last week to 423.6 million bbl. The current stock level is 15.2 percent lower than in December 2020, contributing to pressure on domestic crude prices.  

Largest Weekly Decreases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest decreases in their averages: Indiana (−5 cents), Michigan (−5 cents), Illinois (−5 cents), Arizona (−5 cents), Ohio (−5 cents), New Mexico (−4 cents), South Dakota (−4 cents), West Virginia (−3 cents), Utah (−3 cents) and Kentucky (−3 cents).