Average Utah gas price goes down, still above $2.00/gal

By Sun Advocate

Average retail gasoline prices in Utah have fallen 6.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.49/g Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 1,171 gas outlets in Utah. This compares with the national average that has fallen 5.4 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.26/g, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Utah during the past week, prices Sunday were 82.0 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 24.6 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.
The national average has decreased 3.7 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 84.5 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
“Falling gasoline prices have been the name of the game after a brief hiatus,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. “Forty-nine of the nation’s 50 states saw gasoline prices falling an average of six cents a gallon during the last week, while the Midwest, previously hit with price spikes, saw among the biggest declines as some refiners returned from maintenance, easing supply concerns. Oil prices also took a break after seeing the largest weekly increase since 2009 to post a big decrease last week.”
“At last week’s close, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude was seen trading around $46/bbl, which certainly helped gasoline prices fall. The gasoline price environment remains vastly improved versus a year ago: just 13.4 percent of nation’s gas stations are selling at over $2.50/gallon today, while a year ago, 100 percent of stations were over that mark. Nearly a quarter of the nation’s gasoline stations are currently selling under $2/gallon, and that number will likely grow in the months ahead as refiners continue to finish maintenance and resume producing gasoline at a time when demand is low, contributing downward pressure to gasoline prices,” DeHaan said.
For a complete listing of current averages and other fuel price data, visit http://media.gasbuddy.com. For fuel news and alerts, follow @GasBuddyNews on Twitter.