Gas prices have slightly dropped in the Mahoning Valley with AAA reporting the local average to be 10 cents lower than last week.

This week, the local average is $3.521 per gallon compared to last week's $3.623 per gallon and last year's $4.458 per gallon.

According to a press release from AAA East Central, a decrease in demand, along with the lower cost of oil as the reason for this slight decrease in pump prices.

The latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that demand has declined from 9.30 to 8.91 million barrels per day last week. Meanwhile, total domestic gasoline stocks decreased by 1.4 million barrels to 218.3 million barrels. 

Oil prices rose by $1.97 to settle at $72.83 amid growing market optimism that global energy demand is rebounding, particularly since China is recovering faster than expected following the lifting of its COVID-19 restrictions.

Additionally, the EIA reports that total domestic crude inventories increased by 5 million barrels to 467.6 million barrels last week.