Auto club says It could mean that prices are stabilizing.
There’s some good news for motorists as the summer driving season gets underway. AAA Mid-Atlantic reports that after heading higher in recent weeks, the price of gasoline declined slightly last week. In Maryland, the cost of filling up decreased by three-cents to $2.23 per gallon. Nationally, the price went down by one-cent to $2.21 per gallon.
“Refineries seem to be returning to production, particularly in the east coast,” says AAA spokeswoman Christine Delise. “In the region, they’re contributing to the overall expected growth in US refining production. So the region here is well supplied with product.”
Last year at this time, the price at the pump in Maryland was $2.64 per gallon, and nationally, it was $2.67 per gallon, according to AAA.
At Thursday’s close, the auto club reports that West Texas Intermediate crude oil settled at a new high of $46.70 per barrel, as the Energy Information Administration’s weekly petroleum reports shows an unexpected fall in US crude supplies versus the previous week, according to AAA. But the auto club says crude oil inventories are at an unexpected high this time of year.
AAA also says oversupply will continue to characterize the global oil market. But the auto club says it cause volatility in the price at the pump as demand is expected to go up as Americans take the road with the summer driving season set to get underway.
Delise noted the price in Maryland for gasoline is a little higher than the national average, when it’s usually the other way around. “Maryland’s is sometimes on par with the national average. Maryland has a little bit of a higher sales tax compared to other states across the country so we tend to be at or above the national average,” she says.