Press release from the Automobile Association of America:
Today’s national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $4.62, up 2 cents from last Tuesday. One year ago, the price was $3.05. The New York State average is $4.93, no change since last week. A year ago, the NYS average was $3.08. AAA Western and Central New York (AAA WCNY) reports the following averages:
- Batavia - $4.83 (down 1 cent from last Tuesday)
- Buffalo - $4.83 (no change since last Tuesday)
- Elmira - $4.87 (up 2 cents from last Tuesday)
- Ithaca - $4.87 (up 1 cent from last Tuesday)
- Rochester - $4.89 (up 1 cent from last Tuesday)
- Rome - $4.89 (up 2 cents from last Tuesday)
- Syracuse - $4.86 (no change since last Tuesday)
- Watertown - $4.90 (up 1 cent from last Tuesday)
With Memorial Day in the review mirror, motorists are hoping for some relief at the pump. That will depend on oil prices, demand, and geopolitical factors. In a typical year, pump prices peak around Memorial Day and taper off over the summer though summer prices are almost always more expensive than winter prices due to increased demand and summer blend fuel that is more expensive to produce.
This morning, oil prices are over $118 per barrel, which is a significant increase over last week. If oil prices remain elevated, motorists will likely continue to feel pain at the pump.
Meanwhile, the national average for diesel fuel is at $5.52. One year ago the price was $3.19. In New York, the average price for diesel is $6.45. One year ago the price was $3.23.
From Gas Buddy:
“After several weeks of soaring gas prices, last week saw prices nationally slow down ahead of Memorial Day, but I'm afraid the good news ends there," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. "While gasoline demand has been seasonally soft, the large decline in refining capacity over the last few years has meant that refiners are struggling to produce even lower amounts of refined products. This has lead inventories to struggle to see any gains, boosting concern that they won't be able to catch up. Coupled with continued talk that the EU is still working on sanctioning Russian oil, even though Hungary is a hold out, oil markets are quite on edge. As a result of the continued decline in gasoline inventories in recent weeks, wholesale gas prices surged last week, which will likely boost prices at the pump in short order. Motorists in the Great Lakes could see prices jump early in the week to new record highs, and the rest of the nation will follow. Odds are rising that we'll eventually see the national average reach that dreaded $5 per gallon."
