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National gas prices fall for 3rd week; Campbell County average down 11 cents

Campbell County’s average gas price of $3.20 per gallon is the third cheapest in the state, falling behind Laramie County’s $3.15 per gallon and Natrona County's $3.17.

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GILLETTE, Wyo. — For the third consecutive week, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell. In the past week, prices dropped 7.5 cents while Campbell County’s average price fell another 11 cents, according to GasBuddy and AAA.

The national average is now $3.50 per gallon, GasBuddy data show. That’s down 7.5 cents from a month ago and 80.7 cents from a year ago. The national average price of diesel has fallen 6.3 cents in the last week to stand at $4.01 per gallon, $1.51 lower than one year ago.

“For the third straight week, consumers have been greeted by falling gasoline prices across a majority of the country, thanks to oil prices holding near recent lows and the transition to summer gasoline being essentially complete. While there have been a few pockets of rising prices, those have been the needle in the haystack, with nearly every single state seeing gas prices fall,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“In addition to gasoline prices declining, the average price of a gallon of diesel will join gasoline in the days ahead, falling below $4 per gallon in the next 48 hours or so, a sign of how far we’ve come. Americans are spending hundreds of millions less on fuel every week compared to a year ago, and that’s a number that could rise further as prices are poised to continue trending lower this week.”

AAA reported the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline at $3.53 per gallon, down 8 cents from a week ago, and placed Wyoming’s average lower at $3.39, down 2 cents. Campbell County’s average gas price of $3.20 per gallon is the third cheapest in the state, falling behind Laramie County’s $3.15 and Natrona County’s $3.17, according to AAA.

(AAA graphic)

Local prices via GasBuddy were not available as of press time.

Also included in GasBuddy’s report Monday:

OIL PRICES
With fears of another banking crisis softening and strong earnings from some U.S. companies, financial markets have seen a strong rally start to take hold. In early Monday trade, oil markets were seeing solid gains alongside broader markets with West Texas Intermediate crude oil up $1.63 to $72.97 per barrel, which still is over a $2 decline from last Monday’s $75.15 per barrel start. Brent crude oil was also trading in the black early Monday, up $1.49 to $76.79 per barrel, exactly $2 per barrel lower than last Monday’s start. The debt ceiling concerns have also hit oil markets and remain a threat moving forward, should lawmakers approve a solution to the looming potential shutdown of the U.S. government, oil prices may see a stronger rally.

OIL AND REFINED PRODUCTS
Last week’s report from the Energy Information Administration showed a 1.3 million barrel decline in crude oil inventories, but they remain nearly 44 million barrels above last year, when including SPR releases. The SPR fell another 2 million barrels last week, and stands at 364.9 million barrels. Gasoline inventories rose 1.7 million barrels, but are 5.7 million barrels lower than a year ago. Robust increases in gasoline inventories were seen in PADD 1 and 3, while PADD 2 saw a notable drop of 1 million barrels. Distillate inventories fell 1.2 million barrels, but are still 5% above where they were a year ago. Implied gasoline demand, the government’s measure of consumption, fell 893,000bpd to 8.62 million barrels, a number more reliable when backed against GasBuddy’s own data. Refinery utilization fell 0.6 percentage points to 90.7%.

FUEL DEMAND
According to GasBuddy demand data driven by its Pay with GasBuddy fuel card, U.S. retail gasoline demand saw a drop of 0.8% last week (Sun-Sat). Broken down by PADD region, demand fell 0.8% in PADD 1, fell 0.8% in PADD 2, rose 0.1% in PADD 3, rose 1.5% in PADD 4, and fell 3.6% in PADD 5.

GAS PRICE TRENDS
The most common U.S. gas price encountered by motorists stood at $3.39 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.29, $3.19, $3.49, and $3.09 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. gas price is $3.37 per gallon, down 8 cents from last week and about 11 cents lower than the national average.
The top 10% of stations in the country average $4.78 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $2.90 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average prices: Mississippi ($2.97), Texas ($3.02), and Louisiana ($3.06).
The states with the highest average prices: California ($4.77), Hawaii ($4.73), and Arizona ($4.70).

DIESEL PRICE TRENDS
The most common U.S. diesel price stood at $3.99 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $3.89, $3.79, $3.69, and $4.09 rounding out the top five most common prices.
The median U.S. diesel price is $3.94 per gallon, down 5 cents from last week and about 7 cents lower than the national average for diesel.
Diesel prices at the top 10% of stations in the country average $5.06 per gallon, while the bottom 10% average $3.28 per gallon.
The states with the lowest average diesel prices: Texas ($3.41), Louisiana ($3.58), and Oklahoma ($3.60).
The states with the highest average diesel prices: Hawaii ($5.84), California ($5.09), and Washington ($4.91).

Gasbuddy

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