Nov 25, 2020 3 min read

McMURRAY – A gasoline price war is benefiting motorists who regularly travel Route 19 through Washington County.

While the average price for regular unleaded gasoline in Western Pennsylvania is $2.46, according to AAA East Central in Pittsburgh, the cost of a gallon of gas is below $2 at nearly a dozen stations located along the heavily traveled corridor between Washington and McMurray.

Jerry Kehm, who owns TJ’s Deli Mart on Route 19 in North Strabane, said the significantly lower prices were from operators “chasing dollars and giving customers a break” just before the Thanksgiving holiday.

“Really, it’s all about the competition. We’re getting close to where there’s no room for more movement (to go lower),” Kehm said, adding that gas stations are barely making any profit at the current prices.

Gas prices in the region were about $2.87 a year ago at this time, according to AAA. Kehm said the overall lower price this year is due to diminished demand because people are driving less during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he didn’t know why other places in the region were so much higher. The price of gas is hovering around $2.50 at most stations in Uniontown, Waynesburg, the Mon Valley and the South Hills of Pittsburgh, according to www.GasBuddy.com.

Kehm’s gas station was sitting at $1.96 for a gallon of regular unleaded Tuesday, making it the lowest price of anyone in the entire Pittsburgh region.

“It’s just the little guy trying to compete with the bigger guy,” Kehm said. “It’s been a practice of my father to stay a nickel below (nearby competitors).”

That kind of mindset is not surprising to Jim Garrity, spokesman for AAA East Central, who said gas station owners will use cheap fuel prices to lure customers into their convenience stores.

“Sometimes you do see that sort of dynamic, stations competing against each other, especially the ‘mom and pops’ to try to drive traffic in,” Garrity said. “Gas stations don’t really make anything at the pump. They make everything at the convenience stores.”

He didn’t know what was driving the specific price war on Route 19, but said the competition was helping to put Washington County’s average gas price at $2.29, making it the fifth-lowest county in Pennsylvania.

“Washington County is seeing some of the cheapest gas in the state,” Garrity said. “It’s not the cheapest, but among the cheapest.”

The main driver for cheaper gas prices this year is the dropping price of crude oil, which at $44 per barrel is about 25% less than this time in 2019. The pandemic has contributed to the lower crude price, Garrity said, while the winter blend of gasoline now being sold in Pennsylvania is significantly cheaper than the more environmentally friendly version produced during the summer months.

And as the coronavirus pandemic continues spreading unabated across the country, Garrity said there’s reason to believe the cost of gasoline will continue to fall.

“The outlook going forward is that gas prices could even get cheaper,” Garrity said.