Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by five cents to $2.82. Rising crude prices, tightening gas supplies, and increased gas demand continue to drive pump prices to higher ground. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gas stocks decreased by 11.9 million bbl to 231.6 million bbl, as demand increased from 8.15 million b/d to 8.73 million b/d last week. Last week’s demand measurement is the highest since the end of November 2020. If these trends continue alongside higher crude prices, drivers can expect pump prices to increase through the weekend.
At the close of Thursday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by $1.58 to settle at $66.02. Market optimism about crude demand recovery continues to push crude prices higher. As vaccines continue to rollout and optimism grows, the market is likely to continue seeing higher crude prices. Crude prices will likely the end week higher despite EIA’s latest weekly report revealing that crude inventories increased by 13.8 million to 498.4 million bbl.
Largest Weekly Increases
- Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Utah (+20 cents), Idaho (+17 cents), Wyoming (+15 cents), Missouri (+15 cents), Florida (+15 cents), New Mexico (+14 cents), Colorado (+13 cents), Alaska (+11 cents), Oklahoma (+10 cents) and Illinois (+9 cents).