Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has held steady at $3.30. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks rose by 7.9 million bbl to 240.7 million bbl last week. On the other hand, gasoline demand decreased from 8.17 million b/d to 7.91 million b/d. Winter weather and the COVID-19 omicron variant are the likely culprits behind this demand dip. Typically, pump prices decline due to lower gas demand and a rise in total stocks, but continued growth in the price of crude oil has helped to elevate pump prices. As crude prices continue to climb, pump prices will likely follow suit.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI decreased by 52 cents to settle at $82.12. Although crude prices dipped slightly today due to demand concerns, crude prices increased earlier this week after the EIA reported that total domestic crude stocks decreased by 4.6 million bbl last week to 413.3 million bbl. The current stock level is approximately 14.3 percent lower than during the first week of January 2021, contributing to pressure on domestic crude prices.

Largest Weekly Changes

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest changes in their averages: Oregon (+6 cents), Alaska (+5 cents), Washington (+5 cents), Utah (−4 cents), Wisconsin (+3 cents), Iowa (+3 cents), Missouri (+3 cents), Minnesota (+2 cents), New Mexico (−2 cents) and Arizona (−2 cents).