Keystone Today

Gas prices in Pennsylvania and across the country continued to decline in the last week providing some relief, but Americans are still paying a premium at the pump. As Pennsylvania's average is reportedly $4.49 per gallon, Friday's Gasoline Misery Index for the state currently sits at $543.

Andrew Gross, spokesperson for American Automobile Association (AAA), warned of being optimistic about lowering prices as the situation is still volatile.

“Consumers appear to be taking the pressure off their wallets by fueling up less,” Gross wrote. “And there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic that pump prices will continue to fall, particularly if the global price for oil does not spike. But the overall situation remains very volatile.”

A combination of lackluster demand for gas and lower oil prices has brought pump prices down again in the United States over the past week. However prices are still higher than normal, as Pennsylvania's current average price per gallon has been reported at $4.49 – $1.22 higher than a year ago. The latest Gasoline Misery Index shows that on average, state residents will spend $543 more annually on gasoline now than they did at this time last year.

The Gasoline Misery Index tracks how much more (or less) the average American consumer is paying for gasoline on an annualized basis. Compiled using gas price data from the AAA, average fuel efficiency (mpg) data from the U.S. Department of Energy and average miles driven from MetroMile.com, the index tracks the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline and adjusts using the average miles traveled by the average miles per gallon of American cars.

On Thursday, AAA reported that according to the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand increased from 8.52 million b/d to 9.25 million b/d last week. Total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 3.3 million bbl to 225.1 million bbl, an indicator of higher demand reducing inventory last week.

According to the EIA, in January 2021 the national average price per gallon of gasoline was $2.33. When compared to Friday's national average price of $4.26, gas prices have increased 82.8%, a number the Gasoline Misery Index refers to as the Biden Misery Index. Americans are spending an average of $1,013 more per year on gasoline today since the president entered office in January.

In a recent national poll distributed by the Senate Opportunity Fund (SOF), 58% of Americans said they blame President Joe Biden for high gas prices. This includes nearly half (49%) of moderate voters and 27% of Democrats. The SOF poll was conducted July 5-7 and it surveyed 800 general election likely voters on a national scale.