Staff report

Motorists nationwide continue to struggle with higher-than-normal gas prices, but the drain on pocketbooks is lessening, according to Monday’s AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report.

Gas prices are 32 cents lower in Northeast Ohio this week at $4.144 per gallon. A year ago, a gallon of gas cost an average of $3.064.

The prices throughout the Valley varied, according to AAA. The average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline Monday in Niles was $3.782 per gallon and $4.080 in Youngstown. Along a stretch of Mahoning Avenue, from Warren to Champion, prices ranged Monday from $3.53 to $3.79, according to GasBuddy.com.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is down 16 cents since last week to $4.16. This marks the second straight week of decline. Pump prices are cooling off as the price of crude oil remains below $100 per barrel. But uncertainty lingers over when the Strait of Hormuz will fully reopen and resume traffic. Today’s national average is $1.04 more than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration, gasoline demand decreased last week from 9.25 million barrels per day to 8.59 million. Total domestic gasoline supply increased from 211.6 million barrels to 215 million. Gasoline production decreased last week, averaging 9.4 million barrels per day.

At the close of Wednesday’s formal trading session, West Texas Intermediate rose $2.26 to settle at $96.02 a barrel. The EIA reports crude oil inventories decreased by eight million barrels from the previous week. At 433.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 3% below the five-year average for this time of year.

The national average per kilowatt hour of electricity at a public EV charging station remained the same this past week at 41 cents.

The nation’s top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are California ($5.90), Washington ($5.62), Hawaii ($5.58), Alaska ($5.18), Oregon ($5.11), Nevada ($5.03), Arizona ($4.55), Illinois ($4.55), Idaho ($4.51), Washington, D.C. ($4.49) and New York ($4.45).

The nation’s top 10 least expensive gasoline markets are Indiana ($3.44), Texas ($3.63), Oklahoma ($3.64), South Carolina ($3.70), Louisiana ($3.73), Tennessee ($3.75), Mississippi ($3.75), North Carolina ($3.75), Kentucky ($3.77) and Florida ($3.78).