Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline dropped three cents to $3.82. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased slightly from 8.43 million b/d to 8.59 million b/d last week. However, the rate is nearly 1 million b/d lower than the last week of August 2021. Moreover, according to the EIA, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.1 million bbl to 214.5 million bbl. Although gasoline demand has increased and supply has tightened, lower oil prices have led to falling pump prices. If oil prices continue to decline, drivers will likely continue to see pump prices drop ahead of Labor Day weekend.   

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, WTI decreased by $2.09 to settle at $89.55. Crude prices have declined this week amid market concerns that crude demand will fall if economic growth slows or stalls due to a recession. Crude prices will likely follow suit if demand declines due to reduced economic activity. EIA’s latest weekly report also showed that total commercial crude inventories decreased by 3.4 million bbl to 418.3 million bbl last week. Despite crude stocks being down 7.1 million bbl from the inventory level at the end of August 2021, fear of a recession has pushed crude prices lower.    

Largest Weekly Decreases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest decreases in their averages: Rhode Island (−14 cents), Connecticut (−14 cents), Maine (−14 cents), Vermont (−13 cents), Delaware (−13 cents), Montana (−13 cents), New Jersey (−12 cents), Massachusetts (−12 cents), Maryland (−12 cents) and New York (−11 cents).