Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has held steady at $3.07. In its latest weekly report, new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that gas demand increased from 9.36 million b/d to 9.44 million b/d, while total domestic gas stocks decreased by 3 million bbl to 240 million bbl. With supply and gas demand in sync for now, drivers are likely to see minimal fluctuations in prices through the weekend. However, increasing crude prices, while gas demand remains high, are likely to push pump prices higher ahead of the Independence Day holiday weekend. For the holiday, AAA expects 43 million Americans will drive to their destinations. That is the highest on record for this holiday and 5% more than the previous record in 2019.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by 22 cents to settle at $73.30. Crude prices continue to ascend due to optimism that vaccine rollout will continue to help crude demand recover. In fact, the price of crude crossed the $73 per barrel threshold this week for the first time in nearly three years. Daily crude prices have not been this high since October 2018. Additionally, crude prices were bolstered by EIA’s latest report revealing that total domestic crude supplies decreased by 7.6 million bbl to 459.1 million bbl last week.

Largest Weekly Increases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Utah (+10 cents), Indiana (+7 cents), Colorado (+7 cents), Oregon (+5 cents), Alaska (+5 cents), Ohio (+5 cents), Oklahoma (+5 cents), Washington (+5 cents), Wyoming (+4 cents) and Idaho (+4 cents).