AAA Fuel Gauge Report: Gas Prices Hold Steady Nationally

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The national average price for gasoline dropped slightly this week to $3.54 per gallon. This marked the lowest price for the calendar date of Aug. 19 in three years, down from $3.72 in 2012 and $3.58 in 2011, but it is just 19 cents less than the all-time high of $3.73 in 2008, according to the latest AAA Fuel Gauge Report.

The national average is now one penny less than one week ago and 13 cents less than a month ago, and it has fallen 9 cents so far in the month of August.

Gas prices fell for 24 of the 26 days from July 19 to Aug. 14, but the national average has shown no clear direction lately, AAA said. It increased for three of the past five days, but only by two hundredths of a penny.

Across the country, drivers are generally paying less at the pump than they did one year ago. In six states, prices are at least a quarter less per gallon: Indiana (minus 26 cents), California (minus 27 cents), Ohio (minus 28 cents), Wisconsin (minus 36 cents), Michigan (minus 37 cents) and Illinois (minus 40 cents). Only seven states are paying more for gas than a year ago: Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.

Violence in Egypt, Libya and Syria are the primary factors sustaining global oil prices. Although Egypt is not a major oil producer, it controls both the Suez Canal and Sumed Pipeline, which are key points of transit. The escalating violence has raised concerns that unrest could spread to other regions in the Middle East and North Africa and subsequently sustained seasonally high crude oil prices, according to the report.