Local gas prices up, but under state ave.

VW independent/submitted information

Local gasoline prices are up a couple of pennies from last week, but still much lower than the statewide average, according to gas price information provided by GasBuddy.com.

The low price, as usual, is at Murphy USA: $2.58 a gallon. That price is a nickel lower than the next lowest price, $2.63 at the Lassus Handy Dandy station in the 800 block of North Washington Street. The One Stop Shop station in the 200 block of North Washington Street has gasoline a penny higher at $2.64 a gallon, while the two Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations on North Washington and South Shannon are a penny higher at $2.65 a gallon. The highest prices, although well below the state average, are the Brookside Marathon on West Main, the Shell station on South Washington, and the Short Stop Sunoco station, all at $2.69 a gallon.

Gasoline prices in Ohio have risen 3.8 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.81 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 1.3 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.87 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.
Including the change locally during the past week, prices Sunday were 64.4 cents per gallon higher than a year ago and are 10.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has dropped 2.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 63.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

“While just over half of the nation’s states saw average prices moving lower, the other half saw prices fall. A very mixed week as oil prices collapsed Wednesday, opening the door for a round of late-week price drops, but motorists shouldn’t be fooled — it may not last long,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “Two things are for sure in one’s lifespan: death and taxes, but you can add uncertainty at the pump, especially this summer.

“President Trump has talked about tapping into the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to put downward pressure on oil prices, but this would be a grave mistake and only lead to minuscule drops at the pump and only temporarily,” DeHaan added. “Last week’s plummet in oil prices came thanks to Libya signaling it would resume oil exports, if there’s anything to learn here it’s that President Trump has little power over global supply and demand, and if anything, there’s few options for the President to bring real change to gas pumps: slow motorists appetite for fuels, see sustainable increases in production or slow down the abrasive and inflammatory rhetoric that spooks the oil market.

“Until then, there’s only one predictable outcome for gas prices for the remainder of the summer: volatile,” DeHaan noted,