Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has decreased by a penny to $2.18, which is two cents more than a week ago, four cents more than a month ago and 57 cents lower than a year ago. In the new report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand fell from 8.65 million b/d to 8.55 million b/d last week. Decreasing demand for gasoline has helped pump prices to decrease in the last week, and if demand continues to drop, pump prices could push cheaper in the coming week.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI decreased by 83 cents to settle at $41.07. Domestic crude prices decreased after EIA’s weekly report revealed that total domestic inventories increased by 4.9 million bbl. The increase, amid falling gasoline demand, could mean that the domestic crude market is oversupplied, which led crude prices to fall and they could see more decreases if crude supplies continue to increase.

Largest Weekly Increases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest decreases in their averages: Michigan (-6 cents), Indiana (-6 cents), Ohio (-5 cents), North Carolina (-4 cents), Wisconsin (-3 cents), South Carolina (-3 cents), Florida (-3 cents), West Virginia (-3 cents),Illinois (-2 cents) and South Dakota (-2 cents).