NEO gas prices decrease

Northeast Ohio gas prices decreased four cents this week to $2.034 per gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Fuel Gauge Report.

On the national front, drivers this year paid the second-lowest gas prices for Thanksgiving since 2008, and the national average has steadily dropped. Today’s average price of $2.13 per gallon is down one cent per gallon for the week, seven cents over the last month and is only nine cents more compared to a year ago.

Pump prices in the Great Lakes region continue to be the most volatile in the nation. This is a product of some refinery issues that have limited production at some facilities.

While prices in recent weeks have been a mixed bag of increases and decreases, regional prices over the past week have moved mostly lower. The volatility in the region has been pressured by operations at the BP refinery in Whiting, Ind. – the region’s largest facility – which has been undergoing planned maintenance that is set to wrap up at the end of the month.

Most prices in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have moved lower over the past week due to high supply and the price of crude oil. The latest EIA report shows that East Coast gasoline stocks increased to 59 million bbl (oil barrel) which is about 700,000 bbl more than reported this same time last year.