Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has decreased by one cent to $2.11, which is one cent less than a week ago, five cents less than a month ago, and still significantly cheaper than last year (-48 cents). In the new weekly report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand decreased from 8.76 million b/d to 8.25 million b/d. The drop in demand, alongside an increase in total domestic stocks by 2.6 million bbl to 228 million bbl, helped the national average to decrease this week. As demand remains low, pump prices are likely to remain low ahead of Thanksgiving.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI decreased by eight cents to settle at $41.74. Crude prices decreased due to rising coronavirus infection rates across the country. Earlier in the week, crude prices increased amid growing market optimism that a vaccine for the coronavirus will be available by the end of 2020. However, the current surge in the number of infections domestically has capped price gains while states increase measures meant to stop the spread of the virus. Additionally, the EIA’s weekly report revealed that total domestic crude inventories grew by 800,000 bbl to 489.5 million bbl last week.

Largest Weekly Changes

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest changes in their averages: Ohio (-9 cents), Indiana (-7 cents), Florida (+4 cents), Wisconsin (-4 cents), New Jersey (+3 cents), Illinois (-3 cents), West Virginia (-2 cents), North Carolina (-2 cents), Michigan (-2 cents) and Nebraska (-1 cent).