Gas prices are currently averaging $3.78 per gallon of regular unleaded fuel in the US, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. One week ago, gasoline prices were averaging 4 cents more than today at $3.82 a gallon.
Gas prices in Los Angeles County continued to decline over the Memorial Day weekend, decreasing a half-cent Monday to $4.06 per gallon. The average price, which has fallen nearly 23 cents since the streak of decreases began May 7, is 7.2 cents less than it was last week and nearly 20 cents lower than it was last month; however, it’s still $1.042 higher than it was last year at this time, according to the AAA and Oil Price Information Service. Before the 24-day streak of decreases, the average price rose 43 times in 45 days.
Most analysts are saying that the recent decreases in gas prices are due to two reasons. First, gas prices are tied to oil prices which have been declining over the past several weeks. A barrel of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude on the New York Mercantile Exchange has fallen 11.7 percent to $100.59 from its two-year high of $113.93 on April 29.
Second, demand for gas is down as people are driving as less as possible due to this year’s record high prices.
In Rhode Island, gas prices are averaging $3.92 per gallon, down five cents from a week ago. The current price is 14 cents above the national average.
In Maine, gas prices are averaging $3.81 per gallon. That’s 5.5 cents per gallon lower than it was a week earlier and 12.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.
In Tampa, a gallon of regular unleaded now averages $3.686, down about 7 cents from $3.764 a week before and down about 14 cents from $3.835 a month before.
In Michigan, gas prices are up about 9 cents per gallon over the past week to a statewide average of $3.94, about $1.26 per gallon higher than last year at this time.