Though California may have the third highest state average price for regular unleaded gasoline, gas prices appear to be on the steady decline.
According to the AAA Northern California monthly gas survey, October saw a four-cent decrease since September. Additionally, AAA says that gas prices in California today are nearly 80 cents cheaper than this time last year.
“AAA expects that retail prices will continue to decrease in the coming months, as sufficient supplies, flat demand and cheaper winter-blend gasoline mean motorists are likely to pay less to fill their tanks,” said Cynthia Harris, AAA Northern California spokesperson. “Barring a hurricane or other unexpected disruption to gasoline production and distribution, the national average could fall to $3.10 per gallon by Christmas, which would be the lowest mark since February 2011.”
The agency also reports that the national average gas price has decreased over 50 consecutive days, dropping over 25 cents during this time. The 50-day decline marks the longest streak of daily declines since 2008 when gas prices dropped to $2.20 per gallon in less than three months.
GasBuddy.com, an organization that provides consumers with gas-pricing information, found that Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahama’s most common price is just barely under $3 per gallon. According to the organization, there were no states with a common price under $3 per gallon at this time last year.
A year ago, 15-percent of the U.S. saw gas prices rise over $4 per gallon. The California average is currently $3.747 per gallon, with the current crude oil price being $99 per barrel.
“As the cooler temperatures continue to invade the U.S., gasoline prices continue to cool off as well, with the national average declining for yet another week,” said Gasbuddy.com Senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan. “The bad news? Oil and gasoline futures may be more volatile this week as the Fed shutdown is over, and the Energy Information Administration releases data about supply and demand for the last two weeks. Should that data be surprising, it may have an impact on the direction of gasoline prices in the days ahead.”
According to Gasbuddy.com, the current lowest gasoline price in Turlock as of Thursday evening is $3.35 per gallon at Arco, located at 1801 Lander Avenue.
