Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by two cents to $3.30. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks rose by 10.1 million bbl to 232.8 million bbl last week. On the other hand, gasoline demand decreased from 9.72 million b/d to 8.17 million b/d. Typically, pump prices decline due to lower gas demand and a rise in total stocks, but continued growth in the price of crude oil has helped to elevate pump prices. As crude prices continue to climb, pump prices will likely follow suit.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by $1.61 to settle at $79.46. Despite demand concerns over the COVID-19 omicron variant, crude prices increased this week after the EIA reported that total domestic crude stocks decreased by 2.1 million bbl last week to 417.9 million bbl. The current stock level is approximately 14 percent lower than at the end of December 2020, contributing to pressure on domestic crude prices. Additionally, a decision earlier this week by OPEC+ to maintain its 400,000-b/d monthly crude production increases, starting in February 2022, also helped to bolster crude prices.

Largest Weekly Increases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Indiana (+14 cents), Ohio (+11 cents), Michigan (+9 cents), Illinois (+8 cents), Oregon (+7 cents), Oklahoma (+4 cents), New Mexico (+4 cents), Kentucky (+4 cents), Washington (+3 cents) and Tennessee (+2 cents).