Like the national gasoline trend, prices at the pump in Oklahoma dropped a penny to two cents a gallon in the past week. The national average price, according to AAA Oklahoma is $2.71 while the average in Oklahoma is down to $2.42 per gallon.
Tulsa county has the lowest average at $2.32 a gallon while Oklahoma County’s average is a penny higher. Cotton County in the southwest has an average of $2.34 a gallon.
The highest gasoline prices are in Harmon County in the southwest where the average is $2.85 a gallon, Other high prices are found in Dewey at $2.76, Woods at $2.67 and Harper at $2.65 a gallon.
Oklahoma City’s average is $2.38, down 2 cents in the past week. Tulsa’s average is $2.35, a penny higher. The average in Lawton is $2.37 a gallon, one cent more than one week ago.
Oklahoma’s average of $2.42 compares to $2.37 in Arkansas, $2.46 in Kansas and Missouri, $2.45 in Texas, $2.54 in New Mexico, and $2.62 in Colorado.
New data from the Energy Information Administration revealed that demand dropped last week, landing at 9.55 million b/d. The rate is approximately 100,000 b/d less than the previous week and 300,000 b/d less than last year at this time. Total domestic stocks of gasoline also fell last week. They hit 230.7 million bbl after the total refinery utilization rate fell slightly to 93 percent, which is 2 percent lower than last summer at this time. Alongside a decline in gasoline demand, a cheaper crude price — ranging between $12-15 per barrel less when compared to last year — has helped American motorists to see lower pump prices this summer. Since Monday, the national average for regular unleaded gasoline has decreased by two cents to $2.71.