Motorists throughout Virginia have seen gas prices drop steadily throughout the week, as much as three cents in some areas, outpacing the national trend.
Today’s national gas price average is $2.47, which is a penny lower than one week ago, nine cents lower than one month ago and 26 cents higher than this time last year.
“Cheaper winter gas prices are being seen for the bulk of the country as gasoline demand declines,” said Tammy Arnette, Senior Public Affairs Specialist for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “AAA expects to see gas prices trend lower through the end of the year, especially if the trend of low demand and high production continues.”
According to the Energy Information Agency (EIA), U.S. gasoline inventories rose for the fourth straight week pointing to possible low demand at the pump and an increase in gasoline production.
At the close of NYMEX trading Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled at $57.36 per barrel, one dollar lower than the previous week. According to the EIA, U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 5.6 million barrels, marking the steady drawdown of global oversupply of crude oil. U.S. oil production has surged so quickly that it appears on course to surpass 10 million barrels a day in 2018, breaking a record set in 1970.
The markets continue to react to the outcome of the Nov. 30 OPEC meeting where they agreed to keep their production cuts in place through the end of December 2018. Participants in the agreement will continue to reduce output by 1.8 million barrels per day in order to drain the global glut of oil that has suppressed oil prices.
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Chris Graham
