A recent refinery issue led to a surge in gas prices ahead of Labor Day weekend, AAA reported.
Delaware stations moved quickly to raise prices by up to 20 cents a gallon.
The price of regular in the First State rose by about seven cents during the past week. The price at the pump in Delaware fell by a penny a gallon between Thursday and Friday.
Still, gasoline prices are at their lowest level since the COVID-19 year of 2020.
Scattered stations in northern Delaware were charging $2.90 a gallon or less for regular this week.
The national average for a gallon of regular went up more than 7 cents this past week to $3.21 mainly due to flooding at BP Whiting Refinery in Indiana.
Whiting, the largest refinery in the Midwest shut down operations for several days following a severe thunderstorm. As a result, states in the Great Lakes region saw an increase in gas prices, but may see some relief soon now that the refinery is back in operation.
Overall, summer gas prices have remained steady and should trend downward as the fall season begins.
"But the incident in Whiting underscores the futility of predicting gas prices. Mother Nature and geopolitical events can suddenly and unexpectedly impact fuel prices," AAA noted.
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand increased from 8.84 million barrels a day last week to 9.24 million. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 223.6 million barrels to 222.3. Gasoline production increased last week, averaging 10 million barrels a day.
Crude oil has remained below $65 a barrel. That should result in stable or lower prices after Labor Day, barring international tensions of hurricanes in the gulf.
The EIA reports crude oil inventories decreased by 2.4 million barrels from the previous week.
Delaware remains the sixth lowest state in public charging of battery-electric vehicles.
The national average per kilowatt hour of electricity at a public EV charging station stayed the same this past week at 36 cents. Kansas has has the lowest public charging rates, with Alaska's rates te highest.
Drivers can find current gas and electric charging prices along their route using the AAA TripTik Travel planner
Delaware average gas prices
Timeframe | Regular | Mid-Grade | Premium | Diesel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Avg. | $3.127 | $3.688 | $3.979 | $3.798 |
| Yesterday Avg. | $3.138 | $3.702 | $3.989 | $3.805 |
| Week Ago Avg. | $3.062 | $3.600 | $3.897 | $3.813 |
| Month Ago Avg. | $3.066 | $3.637 | $3.914 | $3.743 |
| Year Ago Avg. | $3.182 | $3.724 | $4.038 | $3.449 |
(From AAA)
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