Americans consumed just 8.46 million barrels of gasoline a day last week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). That’s a slight uptick of 37,000 barrels a day over the prior week, but still trailing 2024’s pace by roughly 200,000 barrels a day. Next week’s figures, which will include data encompassing the Easter holiday, will be closely watched by market participants to see if demand breaks out of the spring doldrums.
In a vacuum, pump prices might fall on the weak demand alone, but a decline in refinery runs and an uptick in crude oil prices last week acted as a counterbalance. Domestic refiners ran 74,000 fewer barrels a day of crude and feedstocks through their refineries last week, continuing a trend of lower output to reflect the weak demand trend. While the week-to-week decline in run rates was slight, output over the past few weeks is trending about 500,000 barrels a day below the comparable weeks of 2023 and 2024. As a result of the lower output, domestic inventories of gasoline fell by 2 million barrels, of which 800,000 barrels were shed in the Northeast. Still, regional supplies remain well above last year’s levels to the tune of about 6 million barrels.
“As demand has continued to stay soft, refiners have dialed back gasoline production to keep a floor beneath pump prices, which are the lowest for this time of year since 2021,” said Jillian Young, director of public relations for AAA Northeast. “Across the country, drivers are spending between 50 and 60 cents less per gallon than this time last year.”
AAA Northeast’s April 21 survey of fuel prices found the current national average down 3 cents from last week ($3.18), averaging $3.15 gallon. The national average price was 3 cents higher than a month ago ($3.12) and 52 cents lower than this day last year ($3.67).
| Region | Current Price* | One Week Ago | One Month Ago | One Year Ago |
| Connecticut | $3.04 | $3.05 | $3 | $3.69 |
| Massachusetts | $2.95 | $2.95 | $2.95 | $3.56 |
| New Jersey | $2.96 | $3 | $2.94 | $3.60 |
| New York | $3.09 | $3.10 | $3.10 | $3.68 |
| Rhode Island | $2.94 | $2.94 | $2.92 | $3.58 |
*Prices as of April 21, 2025
As of April 21, Mississippi and Tennessee had the lowest prices in the nation, at $2.68 and $2.70, respectively.California and Hawaii held the highest prices in the nation this week at $4.84 and $4.50, respectively.
The AAA Gas Prices website is your resource for up-to-date fuel price information. Search for average gas prices on national, state and metro levels by regular, plus, premium and diesel.
