Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by a penny to $3.41. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.5 million bbl to 214.2 million bbl last week. However, gasoline demand rose from 9.32 million b/d to 9.5 million b/d. The slight increase in demand has contributed to price increases, while elevated crude prices continue to put upward market pressure on pump prices.

At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI decreased by $2.05 to settle at $78.81 — marking the first time in nearly a month that prices fell below $80 per barrel at closing. Crude prices have declined amid a strengthening dollar and after EIA reported that total domestic crude supply increased by 3.3 million bbl to 434.1 million bbl last week.

Largest Weekly Increases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Ohio (+10 cents), Arizona (+7 cents), Indiana (+5 cents), New Mexico (+4 cents), Illinois (+4 cents), California (+4 cents), Minnesota (+3 cents), Hawaii (+3 cents), Maine (+3 cents) and West Virginia (+2 cents).