The new year has started, but the national gas price average remains unchanged, holding steady at $2.25 for the last 12 days, according to a release Monday from AAA Tidewater. In Virginia, the average pump price inched up a penny to $2.11 but remains 27 cents less than last year. Locally in Hampton Roads, the price continues to hold at $2.11. This is 21 cents less than a year ago. Pump price stability at the start of the year is credited to consistent crude oil prices in late December, about $47-$48/barrel, combined with low demand. U.S. gasoline demand, as recorded by the Energy Information Administration, was at the lowest level for the last week of December in 23 years (since 1998)—at 8.1 million barrels per day. “Holiday road travel was down at least 25 percent. With fewer people on the road, the majority of states saw little change at the pump from the last week of 2020 to the first few days of 2021,” AAA spokesperson Holly Dalby said. While the national gas price average is nine ...