The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline fell more than 5cents in the past week to $2.285. The most common price remained flat for the week at $2.199, and the average difference between the highest 5% of prices and the lowest 5% prices is $1.135, up more than 6 cents since last week. One year ago, a gallon of regular gas averaged $2.785 in the United States, exactly 50 cents a gallon less than a year ago.
For the second week in a row gas prices have continued to drop sharply in the Midwest as more gasoline is being produced at the region’s refineries after outages earlier this year. The average price for a gallon of gas fell 40 cents in Indiana, week over week, and declined 39 cents in Ohio and 32 cents in Michigan.
The five states with the lowest average prices are South Carolina ($1.991), Mississippi ($2.039), Oklahoma ($2.046), Arkansas ($2.062), and Louisiana ($2.083). There are just 7 states where gas prices exceed $2.50, led by California ($2.922), Hawaii ($2.800), Washington ($2.642), Alaska ($2.616) and Nevada ($2.551). Washington, D.C. and Oregon are the other two.
GasBuddy noted that minor refinery issues have led to slightly higher prices on the West Coast, but relief is in sight for drivers as the July Fourth holiday weekend approaches:
California’s average price is up 7 cents, Nevada is up 4 cents and Alaska and Hawaii are up 3 cents. Relief will be coming to California this week, so motorists there should not be in a rush to fill their tanks.
GasBuddy also commented on the impact of the Brexit vote on U.S. gas prices:
The “Breximpact” on gasoline prices is small thus far, but markets did sell off Friday, which hit oil and gasoline markets as well. Contrary to the belief of many motorists worried about gas prices in light of Brexit, we could continue to see a trickle down decline at pumps across the country. However, one shouldn’t hold their breath on much more of a decline or “Breximpact”. Oil markets have seen several trading sessions this year with the type of large decline in prices as we saw Friday, and with demand still running high, any seemingly minor disruption could mitigate the decline.
The five metro areas where gas is cheapest are: Greenville, South Carolina ($1.950 a gallon); Lubbock, Texas, ($1.960); Spartanburg, South Carolina ($1.961); Myrtle Beach, South Carolina ($1.984); and Tulsa, Oklahoma ($1.984).
Among U.S. gas stations, about 91% are selling gas for $2.00 or more, while 50% are selling gas for $2.25 to $2.49 a gallon and 100% are selling gas for more than $1.75 a gallon. Some 8.7% of stations are now selling gasoline under $2 per gallon, up from 5.9% a month ago, and just 15.4% of stations are selling gasoline over $2.50 per gallon, a drop from 21.4% a week ago.
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