Gasoline Pump Prices at 18-Month Low

Gasoline prices have dropped for 10 straight weeks, pushing the national average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline down to around $2.36 a gallon early Monday morning. The national average fell by 5.7 cents a gallon over the past week.

The national average is now six cents a gallon below its price at the same time last year and 26 cents a gallon lower than last month’s price. According to GasBuddy, nearly 65 metropolitan areas currently sport an average price per gallon of less than $2.00.

Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said:

For the tenth straight week, gas prices have been in a state of decline, falling to the lowest level since prior to Hurricane Harvey in 2017 to the mid $2.30s. Now 31 states have at least one gas station selling gasoline under $2 per gallon, saving motorists hundreds of millions of dollars versus prices just two months ago. Oil prices have been slow to react to a cut in oil production from OPEC, instead focusing on economic concerns and trade tensions with China. Thus far, it seems that it “may take a village” to help oil prices recover, help that would include robust demand from the U.S., which seems to be anything but the case. For now, prices will remain seasonally challenged, tied to the fact, or expected fate, of the economy moving forward.

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All 50 states saw gas prices fall last week with prices. States with the lowest average prices last week included Missouri ($1.97), Oklahoma ($1.99), Louisiana ($2.00), South Carolina ($2.00) and Texas ($2.01).

The highest average prices per gallon last week were reported from Hawaii ($3.45), California ($3.39), Washington ($3.17), Alaska ($3.03) and Oregon ($3.01).

West Texas Intermediate crude oil for January delivery traded down about 2% in the early afternoon Monday at $50.19, while Brent for February delivery traded at $59.83, down about 0.8%. The price differential (spread) between front-month WTI and Brent crude has narrowed to around $8.25 a barrel.

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