Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by a penny to $3.39. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 2 million bbl to 215.7 million bbl last week. Gasoline demand also decreased from 9.63 million b/d to 9.32 million b/d. The drop in demand has helped slow price increases, but elevated crude prices continue to put upward market pressure on pump prices. Pump prices will likely keep rising as long as oil prices are above $80 per barrel.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by 15 cents to settle at $82.81. Crude prices increased today due to a weakening dollar, but prices declined briefly earlier in the week after EIA reported that total domestic crude supply increased by 4.3 million bbl to 430.8 million bbl last week.

Largest Weekly Increases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Arizona (+9 cents), Delaware (+9 cents), Missouri (+8 cents), Maryland (+7 cents), Virginia (+7 cents), West Virginia (+6 cents), Hawaii (+6 cents), Mississippi (+6 cents), Nebraska (+5 cents) and South Carolina (+5 cents).