Gas prices drop in Chattanooga

Gas prices tile

The average price of a gallon of gas in Chattanooga fell 4 cents a gallon last week and may drop again this week, in part, due to the Greek debt crisis and the continued global oversupply of oil.

GasBuddy's daily survey of 170 gas outlets in Chattanooga released today showed the average price of a gallon of gas Sunday was $2.43 per gallon. Chattanooga gas prices averaged 34 cents per gallon below the U.S. average and were 88.1 cents below what gas prices were a year ago.

"From LA to Chicago to New York, motorists saw a promising trend at the pump this past weekend that continue to edge lower today," Gregg Laskoski, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst, said in a statement today. "That may run counter to consumer expectations but this is what we've seen in recent years when summer prices showed nominal but gradual decline through June and July. Retail gas prices follow the general direction of crude oil most of the time and our benchmark crude, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) closed last week heading lower ($55.47 per barrel), well below the 2015 peak of $62 per barrel."

U.S. light crude oil continued to decline this morning in response to the Greek vote Sunday rejecting debt bailout terms, falling to $54.36 per barrel early today.

"Uncertainty over Greece is bearish for oil," Olivier Jakob, senior energy analyst at Petromatrix in Switzersland, told Reuters today.

Today's price declines left oil prices at their lowest level since April.

While prices are down, oil production by OPEC and Russia are near record high levels, Reuters reported.