Gas price decline in the Philly market hits the brakes, not nationally

The average price of regular in the Philadelphia market ended seven weeks of declines with an uptick of 0.3 cents per gallon in the past week, according to GasBuddy.

The price was still $3.56 per gallon, 14.5 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and 42.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

The $3.56 dropped to third-highest price for a Nov. 20 on record behind the past two years.

The national average price of regular was down 6.2 cents per gallon in the past week to $3.27 per gallon, 25.9 cents lower than a month ago and 36.9 lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy.

The national average price of diesel fell 6.9 cents in the past week to $4.28 per gallon.

After a plunge in price to $2.99 per gallon in Wilmington, the past week saw the price shoot back up to $3.17 per gallon.

New Jersey was down 1.8 cents per gallon to an average of $3.27.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, was bubbly over the national picture: “As millions of Americans gear up to hit the road for Thanksgiving, the national average is seeing its longest streak of declines in over a year, reaching a ninth straight week as gas prices fall to their lowest since January.

“GasBuddy now counts over 65,000 stations with a price of $2.99 per gallon or lower, while 11 states are seeing average prices below $3. In addition, we could see five more states join the sub-$3 club by Thanksgiving. The fall in gas prices, largely seasonal due to weakening gasoline demand, could extend for another week or two, leading to potentially the lowest gas prices since 2021 by Christmas.”

It’s unclear why the Philadelphia market has bucked the national trend this week and why the price in Wilmington surged.