Gasoline prices fall on sagging oil prices, low demand

Sagging oil prices have opened the door for a notable drop in U.S. gasoline prices, industry analyst Patrick DeHaan of GasBuddy said.

“The Midwest has been the largest beneficiary of seasonal effects thus far with prices in several areas there declining upwards of 10-to-15 cents per gallon,” he said. “The rest of the country will follow lower for the time being as demand for gasoline remains abysmal and the fuel being produced today will have to eventually be purged from the system over the next few months as refiners begin the transition to summer gasoline.”

In the Pittsburgh region, gasoline prices are down 3.1 cents per gallon from last week to an average of $2.82, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations. That’s 2.6 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, and 37.4 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

The national average price has fallen 2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.55. That’s down 0.8 cents per gallon from a month ago, but is 30.4 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Neighboring areas and their current per-gallon gas prices:

• Akron — $2.57, up 21.1 cents per gallon from last week.

• Cleveland — $2.58, up 9.4 cents per gallon from last week.

• West Virginia — $2.53, down 3.5 cents per gallon from last week.