Local drivers notice slight dip in exorbitant prices, hope for relief at the pump

Local drivers notice slight dip in exorbitant prices, hope for relief ahead

Drivers in the Delaware Valley noticed a slight dip in costly gas prices on Monday that they hope is an harbinger of things to come. According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular fuel in Pennsylvania was $4.42 on Monday; 10 cents higher than the national average.

PHILADELPHIA - If only just pennies, drivers in parts of the Delaware Valley have noticed that pumped up gas prices have started to dip ever so slightly from historic highs.

According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular fuel in Pennsylvania was $4.42 on Monday; 10 cents higher than the national average. Driver in New Jersey paid $4.33 per gallon, and Delaware's gas prices sat at $4.21 on average.

The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. finally stalled out on Sunday. AAA reported the price fell by about a half-cent to $4.325 after hitting a record $4.326 on Saturday.

It’s not a significant decrease by any means, but the news may signal a sign of relief for drivers after the average price of regular-grade gasoline shot up a whopping 79 cents over the past two weeks.

Prices at the pump were rising long before Russia invaded Ukraine as post-lockdown demand has pushed prices higher. Crude prices plummeted in early 2020 as economies around the world shut down because of COVID-19 — the price of futures even turned negative, meaning some sellers were paying buyers to take oil. Prices rebounded, however, as demand recovered faster than producers pulled oil out of the ground and inventories dried up.

Then, the price increase accelerated after war began.

According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular fuel in Pennsylvania was $4.42 on Monday. Driver in New Jersey paid $4.33 per gallon, and Delaware's gas prices sat at $4.21 on average.

The cost of oil has steadily decreased over the last few days, but the price at the pump hasn't budged nearly as much. Financial Expert Dan Rocatto explained that the price of gas doesn't fall as quickly as it skyrockets because oil is only a part of what drivers pay for at the pump.

"Oil makes up about half the price of a gallon of gas. You’ve got taxes, refining, distribution, marketing," Rocatto said.

Still, Rocatto believes we should see prices go down from historic highs in the weeks and months ahead.

"We may see some relief at the pump over the next couple of weeks, maybe months. At the same time don’t expect to go back to $2 a gallon any time soon," Rocatto said.

Nationwide, the highest average price for regular-grade gas is in the San Francisco Bay Area, at $5.79 per gallon. The lowest average is in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at $3.80 per gallon.

According to the survey, the average price of diesel also spiked, up $1.18 over two weeks, to $5.20 a gallon. Diesel costs $2.11 more than it did one year ago.