Local gas stations all below state average

VW independent/submitted information

Local gasoline prices have dropped steadily over the past few weeks, but remain at or below the state average. Prices on Monday in Van Wert ranged from a low of $2.36 a gallon to a high of $2.49 a gallon.

Several stations share the honor of having the lowest gasoline price in town, including Murphy’s USA in the Towne Center shopping center and the two Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations on North Washington and South Shannon streets.

A penny behind at $2.37 a gallon are the Casey’s General Store station and the Shell station, both on South Washington Street, while the Lassus Handy Dandy station on North Washington is at $2.38 a gallon. The Brookside Marathon station on West Main is selling gasoline at $2.42 a gallon, while the Sunoco station in the 200 block of North Washington has gasoline at $2.44 a gallon, while the Sunoco station on East Main is selling gasoline at $2.49 a gallon — which is also the state average.

Ohio gas prices have fallen seven-tenths of a gallon in the past week, averaging $2.49 per gallon on Monday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 stations. Gas prices in Ohio are 15 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, yet stand 7.9 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Ohio is priced at $2.12 per gallon today while the most expensive is $2.95 per gallon, a difference of 83 cents per gallon. The cheapest price in the entire country today stands at $1.92 per gallon, while the most expensive is $5.49 per gallon, a difference of $3.57 per gallon. 

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 1.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.61 per gallon on Monday. The national average is down 3.5 cents per gallon from a month ago, yet stands 6.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

“It looks like average gas prices in most areas saw a modest uptick again in the last week, for the second consecutive week on continued optimism over a China/U.S. trade deal and another decline in gasoline inventories, which pushed wholesale gas prices higher in most areas,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “In addition, some areas of the Great Lakes saw prices spike due to price cycling, a local trend, and with the stock market and interest rates heading up there’s been a strong belief that the economy continues to chug along, boosting oil demand in its wake as well, leading to an unusual trend in the fall: gas prices that aren’t falling but stable or increasing. 

“About the only region that has seen some relief in recent days and will see prices drop notably will be the West Coast, but only after gas prices in those areas soared on refinery kinks, power outages, and more,” DeHaan added. “California will likely soon slide back under $4 per gallon while the Pacific Northwest — Washington and Oregon — see declines of 10-25 cents over coming weeks. For the rest of the country, we’ll see some limited price drops with the possibility of prices holding or even rising again this week, following oil prices higher.”