Gas prices drop another 6.4 cents per gallon

FILE - In this May 8, 2015 file photo, gas station attendant Carlos Macar pumps gas in Andover, Mass. The economy is thought to have shrunk in the January-March quarter and may barely grow for the first half of 2015 _ thanks in part to sharp cuts in energy drilling. And despite their savings at the gas pump, consumers have slowed rather than increased their spending. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

Gas prices in Chattanooga fell another 6.4 cents per gallon last week to an average price of $2.18 a gallon, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 170 gas outlets in Chattanooga.

With oil prices continuing to fall, Chattanooga gas prices are down 91.4 cents per gallon from the same time a year ago, including a drop of 22.2 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

GasBuddy analysts predict with oil continuing to fall, gas prices in markets in Chattanooga and other low-cost areas are likely to fall below $2 a gallon by autumn after the more expensive summer-blend of gas in replaced and vacation travel declines.

Chattanooga gas prices on Sunday were 42 cents per gallon below the U.S. average of $2.60 per gallon.

"The powerful combination of declining crude oil prices and robust production from U.S. refineries continues to pummel retail gasoline prices nationwide and it's a trend we expect to continue," said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy. "With West Texas Intermediate slipping to $43.75 per barrel on Friday and refineries exceeding 17 million barrels per day in each of the past four weeks, a level that hasn't been reached since the Energy Information Administration began publishing the data in 1990, that explains why the national average price of gas shed 6 cents per gallon in the past week."