West Central KY Gas Prices Dip as Memorial Day Travel Weekend Approaches

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gas-prices-rising-02-28

The average price of gasoline across West Central Kentucky is two cents cheaper this week at $2.609 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.
Amid refinery maintenance, gasoline stocks dropped by 700,000 barrels in the Great Lakes and Central region this week, squeezing total levels to 49.4 million according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This is the lowest level of the year, and the decrease was one of the reasons three states in the region saw prices go up at the pump: Ohio (+11 cents), Michigan (+7 cents) and Indiana (+3 cents). These jumps mostly wiped up any decreases seen last week for these three states.

Most other state in the Great Lakes and Central States saw pump prices decline on the week, which is welcomed news ahead of the Memorial Day travel weekend. Statewide, motorists in the bluegrass state are paying an average of $2.66 for a gallon of gas, which is a penny more expensive than last week.
As previously reported, Memorial Day travel will set a record this year on the nation’s roadways. With inventory at an all-year low, motorists may see gas prices inch up this month, especially as refinery utilization remains under 90%.

This week’s average prices: Western Central KY Average $2.609
Average price during the week of May 13, 2019 $2.628
Average price during the week of May 21, 2018 $2.790

Average prices of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:

$2.598 Bowling Green
$2.606 Elizabethtown
$2.856 Louisville
$2.478 Owensboro
$2.506 Paducah

$2.64 Leitchfield

On the National Front
Gas prices are as much as six cents cheaper in some states across the country on the week, which has pushed the national gas price average cheaper by a penny to $2.85 today. That average could have been even lower had a handful of Midwest states not seen prices increase by more than a nickel due to ongoing refinery maintenance. Compared to last month, today’s national average ($2.85) is cheaper by a penny and is seven cents cheaper year-over-year.
At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate dropped 11 cents to settle at $62.76. Crude prices increased last week due to rising global tensions that saw attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and on a Saudi Arabian oil pipeline. Those attacks only increased supply concerns that have been building due to the United States taking a tough line on sanctions against Iran and unrest in Venezuela and Libya leading to disruptions of supplies from those countries.
Crude prices will likely continue their ascent this week after OPEC and its partners met over the weekend to discuss compliance with the group’s 1.2 million b/d production reduction agreement that has been in place since January 2019. The group will formally decide if it will keep the agreement in place beyond June at next month’s meeting, but after this weekend’s compliance meeting, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that there was consensus among participants to continue to drive down crude inventories for the remainder of the year.