Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased by a penny to $4.60. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 500,000 bbl to 219.7 million bbl last week. Gasoline demand also dipped from 9 million b/d to 8.8 million b/d, approximately 700,000 b/d lower than a year ago. The softening of gas demand has helped minimize price increases ahead of Memorial Day. However, gas demand may spike this weekend, as American drivers take to the roads for the holiday.  If demand slows again following the holiday weekend, pump price increases could be limited as crude prices remain volatile.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by 56 cents to settle at $110.33. Crude prices increased slightly yesterday after EIA reported that the domestic crude supply decreased by 1 million bbl to 419.8 million bbl. The current level is approximately 13.3 percent lower than during the third week of May 2021. However, the price of oil faced strong headwinds earlier this week as the market continued to worry about an economic slowdown that could cause crude demand to decline. Crude prices will likely follow suit if demand drops.

Largest Weekly Increases

• Since last Thursday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Iowa (+10 cents), Idaho (+9 cents), Colorado (+9 cents), Arizona (+8 cents), Florida (+8 cents), Minnesota (+7 cents), Hawaii (+7 cents), Kansas (+7 cents), North Dakota (+7 cents) and Oklahoma (+6 cents).