Gas prices tick up for second week as oil market faces shifting trends

(LOOTPRESS) – For the second consecutive week, the national average price of gasoline has increased, rising 1.2 cents over the past week to $3.11 per gallon, according to GasBuddy® data compiled from more than 12 million individual price reports covering over 150,000 gas stations across the U.S.

Compared to last month, the average is up 1.3 cents, though it remains 32.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. Meanwhile, the national average price of diesel has dipped slightly, falling 0.1 cents to $3.708 per gallon.

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“It was another relatively tame week at the pump, with the national average inching up for the second straight week as oil prices briefly touched the $70 per barrel mark before sliding late in the week on news that OPEC+ will raise oil production again in September,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

“While price cycling led gas prices in some states to see double-digit increases or decreases, most saw only modest fluctuations. With OPEC+ now fully restoring production to 2023 levels — and fresh economic concerns arising from a weak jobs report and renewed tariff threats — oil prices may continue to face headwinds, potentially paving the way for a decline in gas prices in the weeks ahead.”

OPEC has agreed to increase oil production by 547,000 barrels per day starting in September, effectively ending the 2023-era production cuts.

Those cuts, amounting to 2.2 million barrels per day, were originally implemented when oil prices dropped below $70 per barrel.

As of early Monday, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil was trading at $65.72 per barrel, down $1.61 from last week. Brent crude was down $1.45 to $68.22 per barrel.

“Oil prices saw an increase in the first part of last week, driven by secondary sanction/tariff fears on buyers of Russian oil, with prices paring their gains following economic growth concerns in the second part of the week from weaker-than-expected U.S. employment data. Also, the decision of OPEC+ eight-member states with additional voluntary cuts to increase their production quota by nearly 550,000 bpd for September weighed on prices. The market focus will now shift to what President Trump will decide for buyers of Russian oil later this week,” commented UBS commodities analyst Giovanni Staunovo, in an e-mail.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Weekly Petroleum Status Report for the week ending July 25, 2025:

U.S. oil inventories rose by 7.7 million barrels but remain about 6% below the seasonal average.
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) increased by 200,000 barrels to 402.7 million.
Gasoline inventories declined by 2.7 million barrels and are 1% below the five-year average.
Distillate inventories rose by 3.6 million barrels but remain 16% below the seasonal average.
Refinery utilization dipped slightly to 95.4%.
Implied gasoline demand rose by 185,000 barrels per day, reaching 9.152 million barrels per day.

The most common gas price nationwide is $2.99 per gallon, unchanged from last week, followed by $2.89, $2.79, $3.19, and $3.29.

The median price also remains steady at $2.99 per gallon, about 12 cents below the national average.

The highest 10% of gas stations are averaging $4.39 per gallon, while the lowest 10% sit at $2.50.

States with lowest average gas prices:

Oklahoma: $2.67
Mississippi: $2.67
Texas: $2.72

States with highest average gas prices:

California: $4.45
Hawaii: $4.43
Washington: $4.35

Biggest weekly price changes:

Indiana: +18.9¢
Florida: -12.7¢
Ohio: +10.8¢
Virginia: +10.0¢
Delaware: +9.9¢

The most common diesel price is $3.59 per gallon, up 10 cents from last week.

Other common prices include $3.49, $3.69, $3.79, and $3.39. The median price is $3.59, which is 4 cents higher than last week and about 12 cents below the national average.

The top 10% of diesel stations are averaging $4.64 per gallon, while the bottom 10% sit at $3.12.

States with lowest average diesel prices: