Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has decreased by one cent to $2.15, which is also a penny cheaper than a week ago, four cents less than a month ago, and still significantly cheaper than last year (-42 cents). In the new weekly report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand dropped from 7.97 million b/d to 7.6 million b/d last week, which is the lowest weekly estimate since the end of May. The decrease in demand, alongside an increase in total domestic stocks by 4.2 million bbl to 237.9 million bbl, helped lower the national average this week. As demand continues to drop, especially amid rising coronavirus cases, pump prices will be poised to follow suit ahead of winter. 

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by $1.26 to settle at $46.78 — about a dollar more than the price at the end of last week. Crude prices continue to rise due to increasing optimism that coronavirus vaccines will be available in the coming weeks, which could help boost domestic crude demand. Crude prices increased despite EIA’s weekly report that revealed a surprising increase in total domestic crude inventories by 15.2 million bbl to 503.2 million bbl. The increase in supply could mean that domestic crude production, which was recorded at 11.1 million b/d last week in EIA’s report, is too high given current demand trends. 

Largest Weekly Changes

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest changes in their averages: Ohio (-10 cents), Indiana (-8 cents), Michigan (-7 cents), Wisconsin (+4 cents), Illinois (-4 cents), Arkansas (+3 cents), Minnesota (+3 cents), Missouri (+3 cents), Kentucky (-3 cents) and Utah (-3 cents).