Odds of gasoline hitting $4 per gallon decreasing, analyst says

Odds are increasing that the national average price of gasoline won’t reach $4 this summer, an industry analyst said.

“For the first time in several weeks, the national average price of gasoline has seen a decline, and while the fall was quite small, the bigger news may be that we may have seen a short-term peak for the price of gasoline,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“While any unexpected outages could push it up again, there is a rising possibility that, barring such, we may have seen our high-water mark for the national average for the summer.”

AAA reported the national average at $3.67 per gallon Monday. That’s nearly unchanged from a week ago, but about 23 cents higher than a month ago and 45 cents less than a year ago.

State averages ranged from about $3.14 in Mississippi to $4.90 in California.

“Typically, gas prices peak between May and June, and with the oil market showing significant cracks in strength, we may have seen the peak in the national average already occur, a few weeks earlier than average,” De Haan said. “While it’s possible we could go higher later this summer should a major hurricane target sensitive infrastructure, it appears the odds that the national average will miss the $4 per gallon mark are rising. It’s certainly looking optimistic for motorists.”

AAA reported Pennsylvania’s average Monday at $3.78 per gallon. That’s about 1 cent less than a week ago, 21 cents more than a month ago and 43 cents less than a year ago.

Across the state, county averages range from $3.70 to $3.89 per gallon, with the highest averages in the southwest and northeast areas of the state.

Averages in the Pittsburgh area, according to AAA:

• Allegheny: $3.84

• Armstrong: $3.84

• Beaver: $3.82

• Butler: $3.85

• Washington: $3.85

• Westmoreland: $3.85

GasBuddy reported the average price for the Pittsburgh area at $3.83 per gallon, based on its survey of 731 stations. That’s about 14 cents higher than a month ago but 33 cents less than a year ago.

Pittsburgh-area prices ranged from $3.53 to $3.99 per gallon, a difference of 46 cents, according to GasBuddy.

Neighboring areas and their current gas prices:

• Akron: $3.59, up 1 cent from last week.

• Cleveland: $3.59, down 0.4 cents from last week.

• West Virginia: $3.53, down 3 cents from last week.

The national average price of diesel fell 3 cents in the past week to $4.12 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.