Gas prices in Chautauqua County are up another 12 cents over the past week to $4.179 a gallon, according to the AAA East Central gas price report, with the price per gallon up 78 cents from this time a year ago.

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has been falling over the past few days and is now a penny more than last week at $4.12. The last time the national average was over $4 per gallon was in early August of 2022. Crude oil prices remain high, even as they’ve fluctuated in recent days following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. The price for a barrel of crude dropped below $100 but then rose again, highlighting the volatility of oil markets and fluidity of geopolitical events. Today’s national average is 50 cents more than a month ago and 94 cents more than a year ago.

According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gasoline demand decreased last week from 8.68 million barrels per day to 8.56 million. Total domestic gasoline supply decreased from 240.9 million barrels to 239.3 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 fell $18.54 to settle at $94.41 a barrel. The EIA reports crude oil inventories increased by 3.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 464.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 2% above the five-year average for this time of year.

The nation’s top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are California ($5.92), Hawaii ($5.63), Washington ($5.40), Oregon ($5.01), Nevada ($5.01), Arizona ($4.73), Alaska ($4.64), Illinois ($4.42), Idaho ($4.32), and Washington, D.C. ($4.29).

The nation’s top 10 least expensive gasoline markets are Oklahoma ($3.47), Kansas ($3.48), North Dakota ($3.60), Nebraska ($3.62), Arkansas ($3.65), Missouri ($3.66), South Dakota ($3.69), Iowa ($3.69), Minnesota ($3.74), and Georgia ($3.74).