Gas prices fall in Pittsburgh area, most states, analyst says

Gasoline prices fell in most states over the past week as a large increase in gasoline inventories may have offset a surprise oil production cut announced by OPEC, said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for price-tracking service GasBuddy.

“While OPEC’s announcement was certainly not expected, it lasts just three months until March, which is barely enough time to even see if there’s going to be a high level of compliance or not, effectively making the cut indiscernible to markets,” DeHaan said.

Gas prices in the Pittsburgh area fell 2.4 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.82, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 731 stations. That’s 1.6 cents per gallon more than a month ago, and 13.1 cents per gallon more than a year ago.

Nationally, the average price fell 3 cents per gallon in the past week to $2.57. That’s 6.1 cents per gallon less than a month ago, but 15.9 cents per gallon more than a year ago.

Neighboring areas and their current gas prices:

• Akron — $2.39 per gallon, down 19.2 cents from a week ago;

• Cleveland — $2.51 per gallon, down 9.2 cents from a week ago;.

• West Virginia — $2.53 per gallon, down 0.7 cents from a week ago.