VW gasoline prices drop over past week

VW independent/submitted information

The lowest gasoline price in Van Wert fell a nickel over the past week, from $2.69 last week to $2.64 today at the Murphy USA station in Towne Center shopping center. The next lowest was at the Pak-A-Sak Marathon station on South Shannon Street, where gasoline was at $2.65 a gallon.

Several stations were at $2.69 a gallon, including the Pak-A-Sak Marathon at 800 N. Washington St., the Lassus Handy Dandy station on North Washington, the Shell station on South Washington, and the One Stop Shop station in the 200 block of North Washington. The Marathon station at the Brookside Convenience Store was selling gasoline at $2.74 a gallon, while the Short Stop Sunoco station had gasoline at $2.79 a gallon.

Gasoline prices across Ohio have fallen 8.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.76 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 1.9 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.94 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices Sunday were 43.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago and are 9.3 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 13.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 57.8 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

“Finally, some moderation has hit tens of thousands of gas stations across the country, following the drop in oil prices in recent days,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “We may have dodged a bullet in avoiding the $3 per gallon level for now, but not everything is rosy yet.

“While nearly forty states saw average prices drop in the last week, ten still saw small increases, so this is not an all-inclusive party by any means,” DeHaan added. “Prices remain well above their year ago level, costing the country $228 million more every day versus a year ago.

“Moving forward, all eyes remain on OPEC and their coming meeting to see if they’ll push oil prices higher, or if they’ll allow a respite for the summer driving season,” he noted.