The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Gas prices rise, but still below state avg.

VW independent/submitted information

Van Wert gasoline prices were again all lower than the state average, ranging from a low of $2.01 per gallon to a high of $2.19 per gallon.

The low price of $2.01 on Monday morning was at the Murphy USA station in the Towne Center shopping center on the north side of Van Wert. The Shell station and the new Casey’s General Store station, both on South Washington Street, were a penny higher at $2.02, while three stations, the two Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations on North Washington and South Shannon streets, and the Lassus Handy Dandy station on North Washington, were at $2.03 a gallon.

The Sunoco station in the 200 block of North Washington was selling gasoline for $2.05 a gallon, while the Short Stop Sunoco station on East Main Street has gasoline at $2.15 a gallon, and the Brookside Marathon station on West Main Street was selling gasoline at $2.19 a gallon.

Gasoline prices in Ohio, which have risen 5.8 cents per gallon in the past week, averaged $2.23 per gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 stations in Ohio. This compares with the national average, which has increased 3 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.31 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices Sunday were 4.3 cents per gallon lower than a year ago and are 23.7 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 6.8 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 19.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

“Gas prices have advanced to their highest level in nearly two months, mainly following as oil prices move higher,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “Gasoline demand remains seasonally weak, but last week’s report from the Energy Information Administration showed refinery utilization plunging, meaning less gasoline is flowing out of refiners.

“In addition, bullish data and optimism on a U.S.-China trade deal helped propel markets last week, as well as turmoil in Venezuela making a strong case for a larger absence of heavy crudes the market depends on,” DeHaan added. “But while gas prices are nearly guaranteed to be higher in May than today, it is looking more likely that the rise in prices this year may be more muted than we’ve seen in years past, when prices launched 35-75 cents during the spring.”

POSTED: 02/18/19 at 8:26 am. FILED UNDER: News