Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has stayed flat at $2.86. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks increased by 300,000 bbl to 234.9 million bbl last week. The increase helped to minimize pump price increases as demand increased from 8.78 million b/d to 8.94 million b/d. Continued growth in total domestic supply will likely help to keep pump prices in check through the weekend.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by 31 cents to settle at $63.46. Crude prices have increased week-over-week due to continuing market optimism that crude demand may increase more than expected due to increasing vaccine rollouts. WTI settled at $63.15/bbl on Wednesday — the first time since March 17 that the price settled at more than $62/bbl. Additionally, EIA’s weekly report revealed that total domestic crude inventory dropped by 5.9 million bbl to 492.4 million bbl last week, contributing to price increases. If crude prices continue to rise and remain high, pump prices will likely follow suit.

Largest Weekly Changes

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest changes in their averages: Ohio (-6 cents), Michigan (-5 cents) Indiana (+4 cents cents), Nevada (+4 cents), Hawaii (+3 cents), New Jersey (-3 cents), Delaware (-3 cents), Wisconsin (-3 cents), Maryland (-3 cents) and Utah (-2 cents).