Current unleaded gas prices in the Saucon Valley area are very close to the dreaded $3.00/gal. mark, which hasn’t been topped since the fall of 2014. Pictured, clockwise from left, are signs at Exxon, 1570 Main St., Hellertown; Speedway, 201 Broadway, Bethlehem; and Sunoco, 701 Main St., Hellertown.
Saucon Valley residents and Americans in general are feeling more pain at the gas pumps.
The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the Lehigh Valley is currently $2.99/gal., and the national average is $2.81/gal., which is the highest it has been in about three-and-a-half years.
The last time the average price of a gallon of unleaded was higher than it is now was in late 2014, when it briefly hovered at around $3.40/gal. locally, after peaking at about $3.75/gal. that summer (source: AllentownGasPrices.com).
In the Saucon Valley area, these are the current gas prices for regular unleaded at local stations, according to AllentownGasPrices.com:
- Citgo, 1020 Main St., Hellertown: $2.93/gal.
- Sunoco, 1169 Main St., Hellertown: $2.97/gal.
- Turkey Hill, 1140 Hellertown Road, Bethlehem: $2.97/gal.
- Exxon, 1570 Main St., Hellertown: $2.99/gal.
- Sunoco, 701 Main St., Hellertown: $2.99/gal.
- Exxon, 3655 Rt. 378, Bethlehem: $2.99/gal.
- Speedway, 3622 Rt. 378, Bethlehem: $2.99/gal.
- Speedway, 201 Broadway, Bethlehem: $2.99/gal.
Why are gas prices so high right now?
Part of the reason is attributable to normal, seasonal fluctuations in price.
In the springtime as refineries switch from refining winter-grade to summer-grade gasoline, prices typically increase due to a temporary reduction in supply–just as people begin to drive more and demand begins to rise.
However, that’s not the only reason, as evidenced by the fact that one year ago the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas in the Lehigh Valley was $2.60, or nearly 40 cents less than it is now. Nationally, the average price was $2.39/gal. in late April 2017.
Crude oil prices are on the rise.
And according to a business analyst interviewed by Channel 6 Action News in Philadelphia this weekend, a weak U.S. dollar coupled with a stronger economy is also contributing to the higher-than-normal spring price spike.
Dr. Sherry Jarrell of Temple’s Fox School of Business told the news station drivers shouldn’t expect gas prices to fall anytime soon, as demand for gasoline continues to rise into the summer months.
Tell us: Are higher gas prices causing you to curtail your driving? If gas prices top $3 per gallon this summer, will they affect your travel plans?
