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Staff report
Gas prices are 19 cents lower in Northeast Ohio this week at $4.025 per gallon, according to Monday's AAA East Central's Gas Price Report.
The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has fallen 9 cents over the past week to $4. Crude oil prices are currently in the $80 per barrel range as uncertainty remains about when the Strait of Hormuz will resume normal operations.
As of Monday, more than half of states are paying below $4 per gallon on average. Gas prices typically start going down this time of year, as many schools and universities begin fall semesters, and fewer people are taking road trips compared to earlier in the summer.
This time a year ago, gasoline averaged $2.965 across the region. The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline Monday was $3.884 in Niles and $3.936 in Youngstown.
According to the Energy Information Administration, gasoline demand decreased slightly last week from 9.04 million barrels per day to 9.03 million. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 211.3 million barrels to 209.7 million. Gasoline production also decreased, averaging 9.6 million barrels per day.
At the close of Monday's formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate was at $82.20 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 2.5 million barrels from the previous week. At 407 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 6% below the five-year average for this time of year.