Gas Prices See Decline for Fifth Straight Week



lower gas prices

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.




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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
 Louisiana4.061

Highest Gas Prices

Highest Prices
California5.871
Hawaii5.596
Alaska5.319
Oregon5.266
Nevada5.239

 

Why 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

Regular
Mid-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
Wyoming4.764.9955.2435.569

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Samson Haileyesus Samson Haileyesus is a staff writer for Small Business Trends and has several years of progressive experience in media, communication and PR working with government, NGOs and private sector. He is passionate about public outreach, branding, media relations and marketing.

One Reaction
  1. The difference between the local gas station and Costco was $0.35/gallon today. I just don’t understand how the pricing of gasoline works.





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