Gas prices, lowest in 11 years, drop for 27th straight day

The trend of falling gas prices is expected to continue, and AAA suggested that the peak for this year may have passed.

During that same period, the average national price for a gallon of gas dropped by eight cents to $2.26, according to the popular price-tracking website GasBuddy. The average price a year ago was $2.667. That average price fell to $2.228 by Tuesday. This year’s increase was also affected by regional refinery issues that sent prices temporarily higher in some markets, which often occurs during the change from winter-blend gas to summer-blend gas.

AAA found self-serve, regular gas selling for as low as $2.15 and as high as $2.36.

“Prices have actually gone down since Memorial Day, reversing the traditional pattern of higher summertime prices”, said Mary Maguire, AAA spokeswoman, in a statement.

Jacksonville- $2.16/g, down 3.0 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.19/g. Higher demand puts upward pressure on prices, as evidenced this spring when prices increased on 84 of 104 days beginning at the end of February and jumped more than 65 cents during this span. There are just seven states where gas prices exceed $2.50, led by California ($2.909), Hawaii ($2.832), Washington ($2.665), Alaska ($2.601) and Nevada ($2.570).

In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area motorists will find gas prices even lower than the state average. In fact, it’s been more than a decade since gas prices were this cheap at this time of year. “For the week ahead, expect much of the country to see prices continue to trickle lower”, DeHaan said.

Prices across the US have generally been ticking down since June, but recent upheaval in Europe caused prices to dive further, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst Will Speer said.