South Central Ohio gas prices are 12 cents lower this week, decreasing to $2.098 a gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Fuel Gauge Report. The national average is $2.223. This week’s average prices for South Central Ohio was $2.098. The average price during the week of Oct. 17 was $2.215. The average price during the week of Oct. 26, 2015 was $2.190.

On the National Front

The average price at the pump has fallen for 15 of the last 16 days, for a total savings of 4 cents per gallon. The national average currently sits at $2.22 per gallon, which is two cents less than one week ago. It is one cent more year-over-year. The National average is down 17 cents per gallon versus the 2016 peak price reached in June ($2.39).

This year’s seasonal refinery maintenance continues across the United States and select regional markets are still under pressure as a result of planned and unplanned maintenance. The East Coast is enduring the fall turnaround season with rumors of refinery outages in the Philadelphia area. Although gasoline demand typically retreats during the fall due to lower driving demand and the switchover to winter-blend gasoline, continued unplanned outages could create volatility and put pressure on the national average in the near term.

Pump prices in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have seen slight increases over the past week. There has been a lot of refinery maintenance in the region. OPIS reports that there is ongoing maintenance at Delta’s Trainer, Pa. refinery. The refinery plans to keep its fluid catalytic cracking unit down at least another month for maintenance. Another factor impacting supply in the region is two critical Canadian refineries that send gasoline to the Eastern Seaboard have not been contributing much gasoline to the area due to maintenance.

Ohio ($2.04) is on the list of cheapest markets in the country. The significant price declines can be attributed to elevated inventories and a lack of major refinery outages in the region.

OPEC countries are scheduled to formally meet on November 30. Traders will continue to monitor the announcement of manufacturing agreement details, but there remains continued uncertainty as to whether OPEC can meet the production targets and rebalance the market. At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, West Texas Intermediate was up 22 cents to settle at $50.58 per barrel.

Here is the price per gallon of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas:

Athens: $2.374

Chillicothe: $1.998

Columbiana: $1.828

East Liverpool: $2.127

Gallipolis: $2.217

Hillsboro: $1.971

Ironton: $2.174

Jackson: $2.086

Logan: $1.947

Marietta: $2.260

Portsmouth: $2.180

Steubenville: $2.082

Washington Court House: $2.008

Waverly: $2.118