Local gas prices all lower than state ave.

VW independent/submitted information

Gasoline prices in Van Wert were substantially below the state average across the board to begin the week, with even the highest local price 13 cents below the average price in Ohio.

Low price was again the Murphy USA station in the Towne Center shopping center, at $2.52 a gallon. The Lassus Handy Dandy station in the 800 block of North Washington was at $2.54 a gallon, while the two Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations on North Washington and South Shannon streets were selling gas at $2.59 a a gallon.

The One Stop Shop in the 200 block of North Washington has gasoline at $2.65 a gallon Monday morning, while the Brookside convenience store Marathon station on West Main Street, the Shell station on South Washington Street, and the Short Stop Sunoco station were all at $2.69 a gallon on Monday.

Gasoline prices in Ohio rose 11.3 cents per gallon in the past week, to average $2.82 per gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 stations in Ohio. This compares with the national average, which is unchanged  versus last week to $2.83 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices Sunday were 52.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago and 4.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has dropped 2.4 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 46.9 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

“Gas prices nationally saw little change in the last week as oil prices saw a mini-resurgence back to $69 per barrel, stifling the broad relief we saw at pumps the week prior,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “With Labor Day dead ahead, we may see a small rise in the national average this week, depending on oil’s move, but largely, this seems like the last week we’ll see elevated prices as demand is set to drop with the conclusion of Labor Day weekend.

“The Atlantic remains quiet, so there’s little chance of a major disruption for the time being, with the overall consensus that we’ll soon see prices falling once again across most of the country,” DeHaan added.