Gas prices in Chattanooga jumped by more than 82 cents a gallon over the past month to a record high of $4.09 per gallon for regular fuel, according to GasBuddy’s survey of 170 stations in Chattanooga.
But the extra pain at the pump may have reached a peak – at least for now, energy analysts said Monday.
“After a furious increase in the national average over the last two weeks, the top appears to be in with average gas prices slowly starting to decline over the last few days,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysts at GasBuddy. “While the decrease could be short-lived, it is nonetheless a well-needed break from the large surge in gas prices we’ve experienced over the last few weeks.”
De Haan warned “the situation remains fluid, and escalations remain very possible, if not likely,” due to the uncertainty in global oil markets amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and uncertain supply changes by major producers.
For now, De Haan said the $4.50 per gallon average national price feared a week ago “is off the table, but it certainly could be a future possibility as long as there is conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”