Gasoline prices in Oklahoma and across the rest of the U.S. have held steady as the nation enters the July 4th holiday weekend with national prices averaging $2.17 a gallon. Oklahoma’s average is $1.90 per gallon, same as one week earlier.
AAA Oklahoma reports the average price in Oklahoma City is $1.93, a penny more than last week and 25 cents higher than a month ago when the average was $1.68.
In Tulsa, AAA reports this week’s average is $1.85, down a cent from last week and 27 cents more than the $1.58 average a month ago.
Lawton, home to Comanche County has the lowest average along with Nowata county in the northeast at $1.79 per gallon. The highest prices are in the western half of the state with Harmon in the southwest at $2.14 a gallon while Woodward in the northwest has an average of $2.09 a gallon.
Since Monday, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has held steady at $2.17, which is two cents higher than a week ago, 20 cents more than a month ago and 54 cents less than a year ago. According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand took a slight step back to 8.56 million b/d from 8.61 million b/d last week.
Alongside decreasing demand, total domestic gasoline supplies grew by 1.2 million bbl to 256.5 million bbl last week. The national average holding steady means that gasoline supply and demand are largely in sync across the country. If these trends continue, motorists could see pump prices slow their increases and hold steady through the holiday weekend.
At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by 55 cents to settle at $39.82. Domestic crude prices increased after EIA’s weekly report revealed that total domestic crude inventories fell by 7.2 million bbl to 533.5 million bbl. Decreasing crude stocks could mean that crude production is meeting demand as it continues to recover amid new coronavirus outbreaks.
Since last Wednesday, these 10 states have seen the largest increases in their averages: Florida (+6 cents), Nebraska (+6 cents), Indiana (+6 cents), Colorado (+5 cents), Montana (+5 cents), West Virginia (+4 cents), Michigan (+4 cents), Delaware (+4 cents), Utah (+3 cents) and Kansas (+3 cents).
Source: AAA
