The national average for a gallon of gasoline in the United States fell again on Monday to $4.212, according to AAA data.
U.S. gasoline prices are down 14.3 cents from last week, and 63 cents from a month ago when gasoline was trading at $4.842. A year ago, gasoline prices were just $3.173 per gallon—meaning that while gasoline prices have come down substantially in recent weeks, the average is still $1.039 more than what it was a year ago.
According to GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis, Patrick De Haan, gasoline prices have eased for the seventh straight week, falling 15.9 cents a week ago to an average of $4.17 per gallon on Monday.
“We continue to see average gas prices falling in every state, with the national average down for the seventh straight week. Even better, nearly 20 states have also seen their average decline to $3.99 or less, with over 70,000 stations now at that level or below,” De Haan said in a note on Monday.
“The outlook is for a continued drop in most areas, however, some supply tightness in areas of the Northeastern U.S. could push prices up slightly until inventories rise, or imports do. For now, Americans are seeing prices nearly 90 cents lower than their mid-June peak and are spending close to $330 million less on gasoline every day as a result. As long as oil prices hold at these levels or lower, we’ll see another decline in most areas this week.”
Oil prices also slumped on Monday on renewed demand concerns out of China, with WTI sinking to $94.14 per barrel, down $4.48 (-4.54%) on the day. Brent crude was hanging onto to $100 per barrel mark with the skin of its teeth at $100.50, falling $3.50 per barrel for a loss of 3.37% on the day.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com