Chattanooga gas prices have fallen nearly 15 cents a gallon since reaching a seven-year high last month, and local motorists should face even less pain at the pump in coming weeks, according to a new report by the online fuel reporting service GasBuddy.com.
The average price of regular gas in Chattanooga dropped another 4.2 cents a gallon, on average, over the past week, GasBuddy said in its weekly poll of 170 Chattanooga area gas stations. Chattanooga's $2.94 a gallon average price for regular gasoline is 38 cents a gallon below the U.S. average and 14.7 cents a gallon less than a month ago.
Regular gas was selling as low as $2.74 a gallon at some stations Monday.
But fuel prices in Chattanooga still average $1.09 per gallon more than the depressed levels reached a year ago when the coronavirus pandemic idled much of the traffic on the road.
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Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said he expects prices at the pump will continue to decline through the balance of 2021.
"With the price of crude oil remaining some $13 per barrel below its 2021 peak, we have continued to see gas prices decline in nearly every city coast to coast, a trend that will likely continue into yet another week," DeHaan said. "Omicron concerns continue to be the primary catalyst for the drop in gas prices across much of the country."
U.S. gasoline demand last week fell to the lowest level since October, which may limit oil's recent rebound and keep gas prices declining through the end of the year, DeHaan said.
"With OPEC+ members still planning to boost oil production in January, we continue to see global oil production slowly rising," he said.
Stephanie Milani, Tennessee Public Affairs Director for AAA, or the Auto Club Group, said gas prices tend to fall during December due to the shorter days and less robust demand.
"This trend was assisted by the recent steep drop in oil prices due to fears over the omicron variant," she said. "But the variant's impact on pricing appears to be fading, so it remains to be seen if oil prices stabilize or move higher."
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The AAA survey of gas stations across the state found 54% of Tennessee gas stations have prices below $3 a gallon for regular fuel.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340.
| Lowest Gas Prices in Chattanooga |
| Chattanooga Gas Prices provided by GasBuddy.com |