Drivers need not worry about 'big jumps' in gas prices for now, analyst says

Gas prices are stuck in neutral, with oil prices not rising despite a small rebound in demand for fuel, an industry analyst said.

A small rise in gasoline demand last week appears likely to continue into this week, said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

“The recovery in gasoline demand has been put on hold for nearly all of July as coronavirus cases surged, but once we recover from that and we see demand show several weeks of recovery, we’ll likely see gas prices begin to tick higher,” he said. “For now, however, that gives motorists more time to fill up without having to worry about big jumps in prices.”

In the last week, average gas prices fell locally and nationally.

The average price in the Pittsburgh area is $2.40 a gallon, down 1.6 cents in the past week, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations. That’s 5.9 cents a gallon less than a month ago, and 55.1 cents a gallon less than a year ago.

Prices in the Pittsburgh area ranged from $2.13 to $2.79. Statewide, prices ranged from $1.99 to $2.99.

The national average fell 2.5 cents a gallon in the last week to $2.17. That’s 0.3 cents per gallon less than a month ago, and 56.3 cents less than a year ago.

Neighboring areas and their current per-gallon gas prices:

• Akron — $1.97, down 5.6 cents a gallon from last week.

• Cleveland — $2.07, down 5.3 cents a gallon from last week.

• West Virginia — $2.12, down 2.5 cents a gallon from last week.