HARRISBURG, Pa. — This year’s sky-high gas prices are starting to come down. According to AAA, the average gas price in Pennsylvania is now $3.66 per gallon, down from a record high of $5.07 in June.
“The decrease is attributed to lower cost of oil, which is the main ingredient in gasoline,” said AAA Central Penn spokesperson Jason Kirsch. “The trend that we're seeing in the lowering of prices for regular, the gas that you put in your car, we're seeing that in diesel as well.”
Diesel prices in Pennsylvania have also fallen to $5.66 a gallon, down about 44 cents from a month ago, according to AAA data. Still, the average price is $1.72 more than it was this time last year.
Oil industry experts, as well as the U.S. Department of Energy, project the elevated prices will remain through at least winter and spring.
Factors for the price plateau include the Russian war on Ukraine, which continues to limit worldwide supplies of oil. Local refining capacity is also low, partly due to a major fire in 2019 at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery.
“The Northeast is seeing prices remain stubbornly high because you're having to compete more with Europe for that diesel supply and again there's simply not as much refining capacity,” said Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.
The relatively higher diesel prices translate to a harder holiday season for truckers, who rely on the fuel.
Brownsberger Transport, based in Lititz, moves up to nine vehicles at a time on their car hauling trucks, which get about 5 miles per gallon of diesel. At the same time, owner Andrew Brownsberger said the volatile market for new and used cars has recently lowered the number of vehicles they move.
“The price of diesel fuel has been a big challenge for us. The freight rates that we're able to get are lower but the price of diesel keeps going up. So our margins keep getting smaller and smaller.
While the pain at the pump is starting to subside, it isn’t expected to stop anytime soon.