Crude Oil price Today – Gas prices approaching $3 a gallon | Business

Gas prices have creeped up for another week in Northeast Pennsylvania and nationwide because of cold weather and refinery shutdowns.

The price of gas in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area as of Friday was $2.84 a gallon, which increased 9 cents from last week and 20 cents from last month, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

AAA senior public affairs specialist Kathleen Zinszer said in the future, gas prices could rise above $3 a gallon.

“While crossing the $3 threshold is a possibility for the national average, it seems a more likely scenario here in Pennsylvania and other northeast states where pump prices typically exceed the national average,” she said.

Crude oil prices have been the main factor driving price increases this year, Zinszer said.

The closing price of crude oil on Friday was $60.52 a barrel.

Since the end of November, Zinszer said the price of crude oil increased as much as $5 a barrel a week and 2021 prices could top last year’s most expensive crude oil price of $63.27 per barrel.

“With the price of crude consistently increasing, gas prices have followed because crude oil accounts for more than 50% of the price at the pump,” she said.

Crude oil prices have increased recently as a result of the power and weather issues along the Gulf Coast, Zinszer said.

Crude production has been offline and refinery output has been drastically cut back, resulting in a surge in the value of crude oil, she said.

How expensive gas will get this year will largely depend on crude oil prices and gas demand, Zinszer said.

Higher crude oil prices and an increase in demand for gas combined with higher-priced summer blends of gas could spell “significantly more expensive prices by the time we get to summer 2021,” she said.

“More travel by car during the summer months combined with an overall increase in travel that might occur in the wake of vaccine immunizations would also influence higher gas prices,” she said.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, also expects gas prices could rise above $3 a gallon in the area as the price of crude oil continues to increase.

“It’s certainly within the realm of possibility,” he said.

COVID-19 vaccines have pushed up optimism that the demand for oil and gas would grow not only in the U.S. but worldwide, De Haan said. The price of oil has increased because demand is up but supply is not, he said.

“Now that we’re in recovery mode, we need to see more oil production,” he said.

As a result of the extreme weather, however, De Haan said 12 refineries have shut down which has cut oil production.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a winter storm shutting so many refineries down,” he said. “That’s why over the next week or two, we’ll likely see prices at the pump go up another 10 to 20 cents.”

Pennsylvanians pay the highest gas tax in the country, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Every gallon of gas in Pennsylvania includes 77 cents of tax and nearly 59 cents of that is a state tax. The money from the tax goes toward repairing roads and bridges across the state.

According to AAA, the average price of gas in Pennsylvania is $2.88 a gallon, up 9 cents in the last week and 22 cents in the last month.

The national gas average is $2.60 a gallon, up 10 cents in the last week and 22 cents in the last month.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area last reached $3 for a gallon of gas on May 5, 2019. The highest gas average in 2020 was $2.85.

Pennsylvania drivers last paid $3 a gallon for gas on May 24, 2019. The state’s highest gas average in 2020 was $2.85.

The last time the national gas price average was at $3 was Oct. 31, 2014. The highest gas average nationally for 2020 was $2.58.