Washington, D.C. - Faced with a rare November hurricane churning in the gulf, the national average for a gallon of gas only fell by three cents since last week to $3.10.
"Gas prices often freeze as a hurricane enters the gulf and oil production and refining are threatened," said Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson. "But once Hurricane Rafael passes, pump prices should soon regain their downward momentum."
AAA tracks the average kilowatt-per-hour cost for all levels of public charging by state. Today's national average for a kilowatt of electricity at a public charging station stayed at 34 cents.
According to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), gas demand slid from 9.15 million b/d last week to 8.82. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks rose from 210.9 million barrels to 211.3, while gasoline production increased last week, averaging 9.7 million barrels daily.
Today's national average for a gallon of gas is $3.10, seven cents less than a month ago and 30 cents less than a year ago.
At the close of Wednesday's formal trading session, WTI fell 30 cents to settle at $71.69 a barrel. The EIA reports that crude oil inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 427.7 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are about 5% below the five-year average for this time of year.
The nation's top 10 most expensive gasoline markets are Hawaii ($4.57), California ($4.52), Washington ($4.01), Nevada ($3.77), Oregon ($3.60), Alaska ($3.57), Pennsylvania ($3.30), Washington DC ($3.27), Idaho ($3.25), and Utah ($3.24).
The nation's top 10 least expensive gasoline markets are Oklahoma ($2.64), Texas ($2.68), Mississippi ($2.69), Missouri ($2.73), Arkansas ($2.74), Kansas ($2.76), Tennessee ($2.77), Kentucky ($2.79), Louisiana ($2.79), and Alabama ($2.80).
The nation's top 10 least expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are Kansas (21 cents), Missouri (24 cents), Nebraska (25 cents), North Dakota (27 cents), Texas (28 cents), Utah (29 cents), Vermont (30 cents,) Washington DC (30 cents), and Michigan (30 cents).
The nation's top 10 most expensive states for public charging per kilowatt hour are Hawaii (56 cents), West Virginia (44 cents), Montana (43 cents), New Hampshire (42 cents), South Carolina (42 cents), Idaho (41 cents), Kentucky (41 cents), Arkansas (41 cents), Alaska (41 cents) and Tennessee (40 cents).
Drivers can find current gas and electric charging prices along their route using the AAA TripTik Travel planner.