As Hurricane Ian makes its way toward Florida, refineries in the South could be shut down depending on the severity of the storm. But this isn’t stopping the price of gasoline from dropping up north in Pennsylvania.

According to a GasBuddy survey of 5,269 gas stations in Pennsylvania, the average gasoline price in the state has fallen 4.8 cents per gallon in the past week to $3.79 as of Monday, Sept. 26, which is about 35 cents lower than a month ago.

GasBuddy is a tech company that operates apps and websites based on finding real-time fuel prices at more than 140,000 gas stations in the United States and Canada.

Jim Garrity, a AAA spokesman, credits the decrease in Pennsylvania and other states to falling crude oil prices, but this is not seen at the moment in some Southern states because of the potential impact of Hurricane Ian.

"(Ian) could be headed toward where a large portion of the nation's refineries are,“ Garrity said. ”The refineries might have to shut down, and if the distribution channels are disrupted because of weather, the states that will feel it the most are the surrounding states.“

In Butler County, the average price of gasoline per gallon stands at $3.91, a little higher than the state average, according to AAA’s website.

The national average price of gasoline has risen 3.2 cents per gallon in the last week, rounding out at $3.67 per gallon.

Garrity explained that while most of the country is seeing average prices go down on the back of cheaper crude oil prices, prices in certain states remain high, thus keeping the national average high as well.

He also said that refineries are currently in transition from summer-blend gasoline to winter blend.

This is a process that rolls out throughout the country around this time of year, where refineries shut down and perform regularly scheduled maintenance before making the switch.

“Winter blend is less expensive to produce because summer blend has additives in it,” Garrity said.

"It needs to be able to function differently in the cold temperatures,“ he added. ”That is seen throughout the country, even in the states that have a warmer climate."

Demand also has played a role in the slight decrease seen in Pennsylvania.

Garrity said demand was unseasonally low over the summer months, even though holiday travel was much higher compared to previous years.

“We took a survey, and people said they simply were driving less throughout the week,” Garrity said. “If we look at the holiday travel, there was a lot, but day-to-day there was less demand for gasoline compared to what we typically see in the summertime.”

According to GasBuddy, the average price per gallon of gasoline nationally this time a year ago was $3.33 and in 2020 the average price was $2.50.