VW gasoline prices still below state ave.

VW independent/submitted information

Van Wert gasoline prices stayed at least a dime under the state average, as of Monday morning, with the low price 16 cents below Ohio’s average gas price. Low prices locally were at $2.63 per gallon at both Murphy USA in the Towne Center shopping center and Lassus Handy Dandy in the 800 block of North Washington Street.

The One Stop Shop in the 200 block of North Washington was at $2.67 per gallon, while the remaining city stations, the Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations, the Marathon station adjacent to the Brookside Convenience Store, the Shell station, and The Short Stop Sunoco station, were all at $2.69 per gallon.

Gasoline prices in Ohio have risen 3.7 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.79 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 eight-tenths of a cent per gallon versus last week to $2.83 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices Sunday were 50.6 cents per gallon higher than a year ago and are 4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average is unchanged   during the last month and stands 28.8 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

“With a muted response from OPEC to President Trump’s exhortation via Twitter that OPEC do something to reign in high oil prices, we may see energy markets rally as concerns grow that Iran’s sanctions effective in November may pose more a challenge to global supply than anticipated,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “Oil prices jumped to fresh highs last night on reaction to the chilly reception to Trump’s concern, with several oil ministers downplaying the rise in oil prices.

“Moving forward, with Iran’s oil essentially out of reach, gas prices may not see the typical decline we had been expecting as recently as the last two weeks as new concerns emerge about the tightrope balance some oil producing countries are hoping for — pushing supply down as global demand rises,” DeHaan noted. “That’s not going to be good news for motorists.”