Gasoline prices decrease a bit for week

VW independent/submitted information

Local gasoline prices have stayed mostly static, with all but one Van Wert service station selling gasoline at or below the state average.

The lowest prices are at Murphy USA in the Towne Center shopping center and Lassus Handy Dandy on North Washington Street, which are selling gasoline for $2.53 per gallon.

The two Pak-A-Sak Marathon stations North Washington and South Shannon and the One Stop Shop station on North Washington have gasoline at $2.59 per gallon, while the Shell station on South Washington has gasoline at $2.63 a gallon.

The Marathon station at the Brookside Convenience Store site on West Main Street is selling gasoline at the state average price of $2.69 per gallon, while the Short Stop Sunoco station on East Main is at $2.79 per gallon.

Gasoline prices in Ohio have fallen 7.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.69 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 1.1 cents per gallon versus last week to $2.85 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Including the change locally during the past week, prices Sunday were 38.9 cents per gallon higher than a year ago and are 14.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has dropped 3.6 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 50.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

“Yet again, average gas prices have remained fairly quiet,” noted Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “This summer has been remarkably mum at pumps, with most states seeing prices move in an uncharacteristically small summer range of 10-20 cents per gallon or less.

“Oil prices continue to be range bound between $67 and around $73 per barrel as of late as competing factors weigh on oil prices at very similar times,” DeHaan added. “Oil inventories have continued to decline, but gasoline inventories remain healthy, and with summer drawing to a close and gasoline demand set to step down, we may see additional relief coming barring any disruptions to the flow of oil or gasoline like a major hurricane. “