U.S. average gasoline prices fell week over week on Friday, at $3.42 per gallon-the cheapest Friday since March, according to Gas Buddy's Patrick De Haan.
Gasoline prices in the United States are 2.2 cents per gallon lower this Friday than last, De Haan said in a Friday tweet, adding that U.S. gasoline prices could fall even further over the weekend.
The news follows the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) Wednesday Weekly Petroleum Status Report, which showed a decrease in gasoline inventories in the United States to 222.2 million barrels. It was a fall of 2.9 million barrels for the week, although inventories are still 2.8% higher than a week ago, the EIA report showed, but 3% below the five-year average for this time of year.
Refinery utilization was up for the week by 1 percentage point to 91.5%, with production falling to 9.7 million bpd. While utilization was up overall in the Unitd States on the week, it fell in the East Cost and Midwest regions.
According to AAA, prices for a regular gallon of gasoline averaged $3.433 per gallon on Friday, down from $3.454 a week ago and down from $3.873 a year ago. Prices averaged $4.603 per gallon in pricey California and $2.965 per gallon in Mississippi.
It's unclear whether the falling prices are part of the season trend that sees relief at the pump as we exit driving season.
"Summer is wrapping up soon, and so far, gas prices have barely wobbled," Andrew Gross, AAA Spokesperson said earlier this week. "But we still have a long way to go with hurricane season, so it's too soon to declare that pump prices have started on their usual Autumn swoon."
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group. More
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