Crude Oil Price Falls

From the East Penn Region, of AAA East Central, an affiliate of AAA and the Pennsylvania AAA Federation:

According to AAA’s Fuel Gauge Report, on Friday, crude oil had fallen by $8.11 to settle at $79.85 per barrel - a decline of more than nine percent on the week.

This marked the first time that the price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil had settled below $80 per barrel. Prior to August 9, the last time that WTI crude oil had settled below $80 per barrel was October 19, 2010. 

Despite two somewhat positive reports for gasoline last week, the price at the pump has continued to fall. While most analysts believe that 2011 consumption is likely running 2 percent behind last year’s pace, recent data suggest demand has stabilized after a late August plunge.

After increasing for 14 consecutive days from August 23 to September 5, the price of gas at the pump has now declined for 19 of 21 days. The current national average retail price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.479 - down 13 cents from last month.

In Pennsylvania, today’s average price of self-serve gasoline is $3.533 - down four cents from a month ago and 88.3 cents higher than a year ago. In the Lehigh Valley, the average price for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline is $3.5 per gallon. That is 2.9 cents higher than a month ago and 87.3 cents higher than a year ago. In the Philadelphia market, the average price for self-serve regular unleaded gasoline is $3.573 per gallon. That is 6.3 cents lower than a month ago and 90.9 cents higher than a year ago. 

The East Penn Region, of AAA East Central, an affiliate of AAA and the Pennsylvania AAA Federation, has more than 270,000 members throughout its service area which takes in all of Lehigh County, and part of Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Montgomery and Northampton Counties.