VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Virginia will see a decrease in gas prices after seeing a fluctuation at the pumps because of Hurricane Harvey and Irma.
Photo provided by AAA Tidewater Public Affairs. Gas prices they say will be falling as fall approaches.
Some areas in Virginia are experiencing more of a drop in gas prices such as Hampton Roads, with the current average being $2.44 dollars, a six cent drop from last week.
As gas prices drop for the majority of the country, so does the nation’s gasoline inventory.
The latest Energy Information Administration (EIA) report identifies the latest draw of 8.4 million bbl as the highest on record.
Much of this can be attributed to motorist fueling up in the droves in anticipation of Hurricane Irma, and refineries are still working to recover to pre-storm capacity levels.
Oil inventories will be in decline in the coming weeks, says AAA Tidewater, but says given that the fall driving season tends to be less demand-driven, any declines in inventories are likely to keep pace with demand.
“Looks like good news for Virginia into the coming weeks as the regions affected by Irma and Harvey resume normal operations,” said Georjeane Blumling, AAA Tidewater’s spokesperson.
The current average price for gas in Virginia is $2.49, which is a four cent drop from last week. Even though gas has fallen a few cent, gas is still at a 35 cent increase from last month, and 48 cent more than it was this time last year.
“Gas prices are slowly dropping as the situation with refineries, pipelines and gasoline deliveries is positively progressing,” added Blumling.
Last week, the price per barrel of WTI closed at $49.89. U.S. crude prices remained below $50 per barrel as of Monday morning. Since Hurricanes Harvey and Irma hit the U.S., oil prices have not spiked like gasoline prices did despite a quarter of the refining capacity in the country being offline due to Harvey.
At $2.73, Florida’s saw its highest gas prices last week, since December 2014. The spike came as many gas stations faced outages as power was down and roads impassable.
