VW gas prices down; still higher than avg.

VW independent/submitted information

Gasoline prices in Van Wert show a 28-cent gap between the highest and lowest prices, according to online website GasBuddy.

The Murphy USA station had the lowest price at $2.51 a gallon — 10 cents lower than a week ago, but still a dime higher than the state average of $2.41 a gallon.

Other city service station prices are as follows: One Stop Shop in the 200 block of North Washington and the Shell station on South Washington Street were 4 cents higher than Murphy at $2.55 a gallon, while the Pak-A-Sak Marathon station on South Shannon Street and the Lassus Handy Dandy station in the 800 block of North Washington were both at $2.57 a gallon. At $2.59 a gallon was the Pak-A-Sak Marathon station on North Washington, while the Marathon Station adjacent to the Brookside Convenience Store on West Main Street was at $2.60 a gallon. The highest price was the Sunoco station on East Main Street, which remained at $2.79, a price that has stayed the same for several weeks.

Statewide, gasoline prices have fallen 9.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.41 per gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 stations in Ohio. This compares with the national average, which has fallen 5.9 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.67 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices Sunday were 12 cents per gallon lower than a year ago and are 30.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has dropped 22.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 12.2 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

“The last week has seen another notable decline at pumps in nearly every state, with average prices again plummeting, in some places to $1.99 per gallon or less, following oil’s longest losing streak in nearly 34 years,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “Every single day, Americans are spending nearly $100 million less than just 30 days ago — a significant and impressive feat as the national average gas price has shed over 20 cents per gallon over the last month.

“Oil’s demise has partially been due to the U.S. issuing waivers to countries buying crude oil from Iran, making sanctions moot, but also because, ahead of those waivers, OPEC agreed to increase production to soften the potential blow from the November 4 re-imposition of sanctions — yet now OPEC is upset and may again cut production to the move by Trump to allow temporary waivers,” DeHaan noted. “What’s it all mean for motorists? The plummet at the pump may continue for now, but all eyes will be on OPEC to see what move they make to pump oil prices back up.”