Gas prices drop amid wavering consumer demand, AAA says
Gas prices fell last week amid wavering consumer demand, according to AAA. (iStock)
Gas prices have continued to fall as demand wavers, dropping an average of 17 cents across the U.S. last week, according to AAA.
This decrease brought the average price to $4.35 per gallon for the end of July, as oil prices sit in the mid-$90s range per barrel, according to AAA. Since reaching a record high of $5.01 per gallon in mid-June, the price of gas has consistently dipped since then.
"Consumers appear to be taking the pressure off their wallets by fueling up less," AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said. "And there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic that pump prices will continue to fall, particularly if the global price for oil does not spike. But the overall situation remains very volatile."
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Gas prices could continue decreasing
The demand for gas rose slightly last week, from 8.06 million barrels a day to 8.52 million barrels per day, AAA said, citing data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). But this is down from last year and is in line with the reduced demand in July 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"If gas demand remains low as stocks increase, alongside a continuing reduction in crude prices, drivers will likely continue to see pump prices decline," AAA said.
And as the price of gas decreases, it seems that consumers may be taking steps to reduce their usage to pay even less at the pump.
"On June 13 AAA said we hit a new all-time high with the average price of $5.01, which was $1.94 more than the year prior – a 63% increase," a spokesperson for Rocket Money said. "Rocket Money, formerly Truebill, saw its members spend 10% more on gas in June compared to the year prior. Clearly, people are carpooling, using public transportation or in some way finding ways to not buy as much gas as they did a year ago."
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This is where gas prices decreased the most
Gas prices are sliding but have dropped more significantly in some parts of the U.S. than others. These are the states that saw the largest weekly declines:
- Kansas: 29 cents
- Iowa: 25 cents
- Oklahoma: 25 cents
- Missouri: 23 cents
- Ohio: 22 cents
- Wisconsin: 22 cents
- Nebraska: 22 cents
- Delaware: 21 cents
- Wyoming: 21 cents
- Indiana: 21 cents
Additionally, the average price of gas in the U.S. varies by location. Here are the top 10 states with the least expensive average gas prices:
- Texas: $3.85
- South Carolina: $3.86
- Georgia: $3.88
- Mississippi: $3.89
- Alabama: $3.92
- Tennessee: $3.93
- Arkansas: $3.93
- Louisiana: $3.94
- Oklahoma: $3.96
- Kentucky: $4.00
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