Charlotte, N.C. (September 21, 2020) – For the third week now, the Carolinas have remained a part of the nation’s top 10 largest weekly decreases as low demand continues to push pump prices cheaper.
The latest Energy Information Administration report measures demand at 8.48 million b/d – a slight uptick from the previous week’s demand. However, the small increase – which was likely due to holiday road trips – is still much lower than last year at this time.
“Pump prices have been trending even cheaper since Labor Day weekend and low demand has helped contribute to that,” said Tiffany Wright, spokesperson, AAA – The Auto Club Group in the Carolinas. “Entering the fall season we’ll see fewer road trips and a continued drop in demand will likely lead to gas prices continuing to drop.”
North Carolina’s $2.01 average is two cents cheaper than last week, one cent cheaper than last month and 44 cents cheaper than a year ago. South Carolina’s $1.90 average is also two cents cheaper than last week and last month, but 46 cents cheaper than a year ago.
Today’s national gas price average is $2.18 – one cent less than last week, the same price as a month ago, but 48 cents cheaper than mid-September last year. On the week, all states saw gas prices decrease or remain stable at the pump. The majority of state averages have pushed cheaper by a penny or two since last Monday.
Domestic crude prices increased last week after the EIA’s weekly report revealed that total domestic crude inventories decreased by 4.4 million bbl to 496 million bbl. Decreasing stocks could signal that supply and demand are rebalancing, even while production grew by 900,000 b/d last week to 10.9 million b/d. For this week, crude prices could increase again if EIA’s next report shows another decrease in total inventories.
For updated state and metro prices log on to https://gasprices.aaa.com/
About AAA – The Auto Club Group
The Auto Club Group (ACG) is the second largest AAA club in North America with more than 14 million members across 14 U.S. states, the province of Quebec and two U.S. territories. ACG and its affiliates provide members with roadside assistance, insurance products, banking and financial services, travel offerings and more. ACG belongs to the national AAA federation with more than 60 million members in the United States and Canada. AAA’s mission is to protect and advance freedom of mobility and improve traffic safety. For more information, get the AAA Mobile app, visit AAA.com, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.