Van Wert gasoline prices decrease again

VW independent/submitted information

Several Van Wert service stations had gasoline prices lower than the state average, although others were above that benchmark on Monday morning.

Three stations, Murphy USA in the Towne Center shopping center, and the Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations on North Washington and South Shannon, were selling gasoline at $2.04 per gallon Monday morning. Two other stations the Lassus Handy Dandy station and the One Stop Shop station, both on North Washington, were also under the state average with prices at $2.06 per gallon.

The Shell station on South Washington had gas listed at $2.11 per gallon, while the Brookside Marathon station on West Main Street had gasoline at $2.11 per gallon, and the Short Stop Sunoco station was at $2.19 per gallon.

In Ohio, gasoline prices have fallen 9.8 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.07 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 5.7 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.36 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices Sunday were 18.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago and 34.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has dropped 26.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 5.7 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

“For the tenth straight week, gas prices have been in a state of decline, falling to the lowest level since prior to Hurricane Harvey in 2017 to the mid $2.30s with now 31 states with at least one gas station selling gasoline under $2 per gallon, saving motorists hundreds of millions of dollars versus prices just two months ago,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “Oil prices have been slow to react to a cut in oil production from OPEC, instead focusing on economic concerns and trade tensions with China.

“Thus far, it seems that it ‘may take a village’ to help oil prices recover, help that would include robust demand from the U.S., which seems to be anything but the case,” DeHaan added. “For now, prices will remain seasonally challenged, tied to the fact or expected fate of the economy moving forward.”