After a jump in gas prices earlier this month, the average price of gasoline has declined in Chattanooga during the past two weeks and may drop further this week, according to a report by GasBuddy.com.
Gasoline prices in Chattanooga dropped an average of 13.1 cents per gallon to $3.26 a gallon, according to GasBuddy's survey of 170 stations in Chattanooga. At the Kwik Trip and Sam's Club station on Lee Highway, regular gas was selling Monday for $2.85 a gallon — one of the cheapest prices in Tennessee, according to GasBuddy.com.
Chattanooga gas prices, on average, were down 6.5 cents from a month ago and remained 54 cents a gallon below the U.S. average of $3.80 per gallon, GasBuddy figures show. But prices at the pump in Chattanooga are still 21.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.
The national average price of diesel also has risen 9.9 cents in the past week and stands at $4.53 per gallon.
"While most states are likely to continue seeing gasoline prices fall in the week ahead, any new refinery issues as others begin maintenance could be problematic," Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a report Monday. "For diesel prices, however, the opposite is playing out, with prices that continue to rise as demand for diesel strengthens. Overall, the largest issues impacting gas prices remain refinery disruptions, but also the price of oil, which has held around $90 per barrel as Saudi Arabia and Russia maintain significant production cuts."
— Compiled by Dave Flessner