PITTSBURGH -- Gas prices in Pennsylvania are lower now than at any time since February 2007, but Pittsburghers are still paying more at the pump than anyone else in the state.

According to AAA, drivers in Philadelphia were paying an average of $2.54 for a gallon of unleaded gasoline on Tuesday.

The average was $2.49 in Allentown and $2.35 in Harrisburg -- but in Pittsburgh, it was $2.62.

"There's basically nothing we can do about it," said Kent Moors, an energy expert from Duquesne University. "There is a good reason for it."

Moors said the Pittsburgh region is at the very end of two distribution lines -- one from the east coast and another from the midwest -- which means gasoline must be shipped farther to get here.

"This is about the most expensive place to transport fuel for retail sale as any place in the northeast," Moors said.

Other parts of the country are engaged in a gasoline price war, with drivers paying less than $2 a gallon as stations slash prices to compete for business.

But that trend that has not taken hold in western Pennsylvania, where there are very few independent gas stations.

"Independents are essentially those retail establishments that actually are able to negotiate their prices with one or more suppliers of the gasoline. By and large, that doesn't exist here," Moors said.

As a result, there is less competition and slightly higher prices, Moors said.

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