Over the period which started eight weeks ago, the price of a gallon of regular gas has marched higher each week. Last week broke the trend

According to the AAA

For the first time since November the national average has seen a weekly drop, falling 3.2 cents to $2.339 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. The fall comes as crude oil prices take a breather and gasoline inventories surge, putting downward pressure on pump prices.

A total of 36 states saw gasoline prices fall in the last week, led by Great Lakes states: Indiana fell 13.9 cents, Ohio fell 13.1, Michigan tumbled 10.9 cents, Kentucky fell 8.7 cents and Illinois dropped by 6.2 cents, thanks to some relief from refinery issues in the last few weeks.

The downward trend is evident in over two-thirds of states but may take additional time to materialize in others, yet is a familiar pattern for late winter as refiners build inventories prior to the late-February start of refinery maintenance season and thanks to the year’s weakest demand occurring over the next four weeks.

Not all states benefited:

 

Meanwhile, Rocky Mountain states saw the largest increases in the country with Utah up 5.8 cents for its first major rise since OPEC’s production cuts announced in November, while Idaho advanced 4.1 cents and Montana rose 3.4 cents, rounding out the top three in the country.

The state and city data from AAA:

To begin the week, the nation’s lowest gasoline prices can be found in South Carolina and Oklahoma, where prices average $2.11/gallon. Aiken, SC was the nation’s cheapest metro area, with gas prices averaging $2.045/gallon, followed by Rock Hill, SC at $2.051 and Sumter, SC at $2.063. Lubbock, TX followed, coming in at $2.066, while Cleveland, TN rounded out the top five at $2.068/gallon. On the other side of the list, Hawaii was home to the nation’s priciest gallon of gasoline at an average $3.05, followed by California ($2.81) and Washington ($2.74). Kahului, HI was the only city over $3 per gallon average, seeing an average gallon priced at a whopping $3.44 per gallon, followed by San Luis Obispo, CA at $2.955 and San Francisco, CA at $2.95. Honolulu ($2.942) and Fairbanks, AK ($2.921) rounded out the top five.

One lesson from this is that it is good to buy gas near the Gulf of Mexico and refineries south of Houston

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