Abundant Supplies Are Keeping Gas Prices Falling in Most Areas

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gas prices continue to be on the decline. In fact, according to AAA, national pump prices have dropped 50 of the last 51 days.

As of early August, the nationwide average for a regular gallon of gasoline was $2.13 per gallon, the lowest level in the past 100 days and lowest for this time period since 2004. The nationwide average dropped 3 cents per gallon in one week, 15 cents per gallon in one month, and 52 cents per gallon compared to the same date one year ago.

Often, early August represents a period when gas prices are on the rise as peak driving season is in full gear. However, abundant supplies of fuel have led the price of gas to drop in 45 states and Washington, D.C.

Conversely, average fuel prices did inch up in the past week in Indiana, (plus 9 cents), Utah (plus 3 cents), Ohio (plus 3 cents), Missouri (plus 1 cent) and Idaho (up fractions of a penny). However, prices in every state are lower than they were both one month ago and one year ago.

Forty percent of gas stations nationwide are selling regular gasoline for $2 per gallon or less, compared to just a handful last year. Fewer than 1 percent of stations nationwide are selling gasoline for more than $3 per regular gallon, vs. 13 percent of stations one year ago.

Looking on a statewide basis, South Carolina has the lowest average price per gallon at $1.84 per gallon, followed by Alabama ($1.88), Tennessee ($1.89) and Mississippi ($1.91).

On the flip side, the highest average price per gallon can be found in Hawaii ($2.76 per gallon), followed by California ($2.73), Washington ($2.62) and Alaska ($2.62).

Despite record road travel this summer, AAA predicts gas prices will remain low for the rest of the summer, barring a geopolitical event or refinery outage.