Consumers that have been seeing a series of rising gas prices are now seeing some reprieve with the national average price of gas falling below $4.50 a gallon.
Lower Gas Prices
According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), July 19, 2022, saw average gas prices reach $4.495 down from $4.655 a week ago. This is a significant decline, from this time last month with gas prices reaching a dizzying $ 5.006 a gallon on June 13, 2022- the highest inflation-adjusted price for any week since 2011.
Despite the gradual drop in the average national gas price is still nowhere near the $3.170 a gallon price from last year. In addition, gas prices vary widely between states, with the average retail prices ranging between $3.998 to $5.871.
California Still Feeling the Pinch
Though some relief might be felt among consumers with the drop in gas prices, prices are still taking their toll on many states, with certain states feeling the pinch more severely than others.
Drivers in California continue to grapple with high gas prices with the average price of a gallon of gas in the sunshine state costing $5.871 despite going down from $5.897 a week ago. This time last year the average gas price in California was $4.324.
Like California, the states of Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Utah, and Illinois saw the average price for a gallon of gas go beyond the $5 threshold.
However, this week all the states except Hawaii and Alaska saw their gas prices at the pump go down. Hawaii and Alaska saw a $0.006 increase.
On bit of good news several other states have seen their gas prices fall back under an average of $4, the majority being in the south. For example, South Carolinians are feeling the least of the pinch at the pump with average gas prices reaching $3.998 a gallon down from $ 4.020 a week ago. Other states with average gas prices below the $4.10 mark include Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.
Lowest Gas Prices
Lowest Prices South Carolina3.998 Texas4.003 Georgia4.012 Mississippi4.027 Louisiana4.061Highest Gas Prices
Highest Prices California5.871 Hawaii5.596 Alaska5.319 Oregon5.266 Nevada5.239Why are gas prices going down?
Since mid-June, gas prices have shown a somewhat decline by an average of 10 cents a week.
According to data from AAA, the drop in gas prices is in its fifth-week streak dropping by 16 cents from a week ago to reach $4.495.
Gas Price Trend
RegularMid-Grade
Premium
Diesel
E85 Current Avg.4.4954.9475.2445.5153.835 Yesterday Avg.4.5214.975.2665.5353.867 Week Ago Avg.4.6555.0965.3955.6253.975 Month Ago Avg.4.9835.3815.6795.8164.284 Year Ago Avg.3.173.5153.7913.2762.667
“We’ve seen the national average price of gasoline declined for a fifth straight week, with the pace of recent declines accelerating to some of the most significant we’ve seen in years. This trend is likely to reach a sixth straight week, with prices likely to fall again this week. Barring major hurricanes, outages, or unexpected disruptions, I forecast the national average to fall to $3.99/gal by mid-August,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration factors that are pushing down gas prices include fewer Americans driving due to the hit to their budgets and consumers purchasing less gasoline in the second quarter of 2022 and early July compared with the same period a year earlier.
State Gas Prices
State Regular Mid-Grade Premium Diesel Alabama4.0684.4854.8475.252 Alaska5.3195.5855.7485.944 Arizona4.8095.1315.385.55 Arkansas4.0914.4624.7915.162 California5.8716.0976.2326.665 Colorado4.7685.125.4115.391 Connecticut4.4935.0025.3525.712 Delaware4.3864.8795.1165.406 District of Columbia4.6715.2255.555.762 Florida4.2294.6584.9715.404 Georgia4.0124.4394.795.196 Hawaii5.5965.7856.0266.105 Idaho5.1135.3455.5565.733 Illinois4.9755.475.845.642 Indiana4.5464.9825.3225.806 Iowa4.2824.4944.9815.181 Kansas4.3054.594.8945.17 Kentucky4.1594.6024.9335.477 Louisiana4.0614.4514.7875.078 Maine4.7235.135.4415.811 Maryland4.4414.9515.2255.428 Massachusetts4.625.1155.3885.798 Michigan4.5825.0395.3935.744 Minnesota4.4684.7945.1655.453 Mississippi4.0274.4044.7555.063 Missouri4.2164.5594.8595.135 Montana4.7495.0475.3285.746 Nebraska4.4314.5695.0625.178 Nevada5.2395.4995.6825.66 New Hampshire4.5214.9795.3035.761 New Jersey4.5725.1365.3645.635 New Mexico4.3254.6774.9425.295 New York4.685.1225.445.92 North Carolina4.1554.5574.9095.376 North Dakota4.4544.8065.1585.385 Ohio4.3394.7685.1125.799 Oklahoma4.1984.5464.7795.042 Oregon5.2665.485.6886.331 Pennsylvania4.6655.0655.3435.877 Rhode Island4.5975.1335.4145.821 South Carolina3.9984.414.755.139 South Dakota4.5344.715.2075.293 Tennessee4.084.4864.845.265 Texas4.0034.3994.7184.937 Utah5.0375.2685.4625.45 Vermont4.6065.1535.5125.577 Virginia4.274.7325.0515.447 Washington5.225.4545.6396.296 West Virginia4.594.8855.1495.767 Wisconsin4.2294.6965.0635.261 Wyoming4.764.9955.2435.569Image: Depositphotos
This article, "Gas Prices See Decline for Fifth Straight Week" was first published on Small Business Trends
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