As temperatures dropped throughout the region this week, so have prices at the pump.
Delaware saw a three-cent dip in gas prices, although motorists are paying seven cents a gallon more than during the same period a year ago, Wilmington-based AAA Mid-Atlantic reported.
Prices were all over the map in Delaware, ranging from $2.09 in the Elsmere-Newport area to more than $2.40 in the Brandywine Hundred area north of Wimington. Downstate, prices often stayed in the $2.20 to $2.25 range.
The pirces on the northern edge of the state remain relatively high, due to the presence of fewer stations and the influence of next-door neigbor Pennsylvania, home of the nation’s highest gas taxes.
| 12/ 17/2017 | Week Ago | Year Ago | |
| National | $2.43 | $2.47 | $2.24 |
| Pennsylvania | $2.71 | $2.73 | $2.44 |
| Philadelphia (5-county) | $2.67 | $2.70 | $2.42 |
| Wilkes-Barre | $2.70 | $2.71 | $2.46 |
| Bloomsburg | $2.73 | $2.75 | $2.46 |
| South Jersey | $2.39 | $2.42 | $2.27 |
| Delaware | $2.31 | $2.34 | $2.24 |
| Crude Oil |
$56.30 per barrel
(Fri. 12/17/17 close) |
$56.36 per barrel
(Fri. 12/8/17 close) |
$51.90 per barrel |
At the close of NYMEX trading Friday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil settled at $56.30 per barrel, six cents lower than the previous week.
The International Energy Agency reported last week that total oil supply growth may outpace the increase in global demand in the coming year, with supply from the non-members of OPEC expected to rise. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) forecasts WTI crude oil prices will average $53 per barrel in 2018.
That price would keep U.S. wells pumping and drilling rigs in Texas and New Mexico.
“Nationally, gas prices are 10 cents cheaper on the month and will continue to drop as we count down the days to the holidays,” said Jana Tidwell, manager of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Mid-Atlantic. “AAA expects gasoline demand to weaken throughout the winter, which translates to better prices at the pump.”
AAA forecasts 107.3 million Americans will take to planes, trains, automobiles and other modes of transportation during the year-end holiday period. Despite paying the highest year-end gas prices since 2014, more than ninety percent of all travelers – 97.4 million – are planning a holiday road trip, an increase of three percent over last year.
This will be the highest year-end travel volume on record and a 3.1 percent increase in travel volume compared with last year. 2017 marks the ninth consecutive year of rising year-end holiday travel.
To find out gas prices in your neighborhood, check out AAA’s Fuel Price Finder (http://www.AAA.com/fuelfinder).
