{"id":14141,"date":"2018-12-06T14:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T20:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=14141"},"modified":"2018-12-06T05:10:01","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T11:10:01","slug":"aaa-says-national-gas-price-average-is-cheaper-for-first-time-in-18-months-than-one-year-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2018\/12\/06\/aaa-says-national-gas-price-average-is-cheaper-for-first-time-in-18-months-than-one-year-ago\/","title":{"rendered":"AAA says National Gas Price Average is Cheaper for First Time in 18 Months than One Year Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>AAA<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-35320\" title=\"AAA\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/05\/AAA.gif\" alt=\"AAA\" width=\"200\" height=\"122\"><strong>Tampa, FL<\/strong> &#8211; On the week, motorists in 32 states are paying less to fill up compared to a year ago. As the national gas price average drops to $2.46 it sets a new low price for the year and is cheaper than a year ago by two cents.<\/p>\n<p>The last time the daily national gas price average was cheaper year-over-year was 18 months ago on July 6th, 2017 when gas prices were $2.24 (versus $2.26 on July 6th, 2016).<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_439893\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gas-Pumps.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-439893\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-439893\" title=\"Prices at the Pump continue to fall across the United States. (AAA)\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Gas-Pumps-480x192.jpg\" alt=\"Prices at the Pump continue to fall across the United States. (AAA)\" width=\"480\" height=\"192\"><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-439893\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Prices at the Pump continue to fall across the United States. (AAA)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Not only is today\u2019s national gas price average cheaper year-over-year, but also is 31-cents cheaper than a month ago and on the week, 24 states saw gas prices drop double digits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCheap crude oil prices are driving fuel savings at the pump,\u201d said Jeanette Casselano, AAA spokesperson. \u201cLast week crude dropped to its lowest point of the year at $50.00\/bbl. However, this week\u2019s Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting could cause crude oil prices to jump if the organization decides to reduce crude production.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OPEC is expected to make an announcement on crude production at its December 6 meeting in Vienna, Austria. The scheduled OPEC meeting has not had a negative impact on pump prices so far.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2015-2018-National-Gas-Price-Comparison-December-3rd.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-439894\" title=\"2015-2018 National Gas Price Comparison - December 3rd\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2015-2018-National-Gas-Price-Comparison-December-3rd-480x320.jpg\" alt=\"2015-2018 National Gas Price Comparison - December 3rd\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Quick Stats&nbsp;<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>The nation\u2019s <strong>top 10 largest yearly increases<\/strong> are Nevada $3.15 (+44 cents), Arizona $2.80 (+41 cents), Hawaii $3.64 (+38 cents), California $3.53 (+36 cents), Utah $2.86 (+35 cents), Wyoming $2.84 (+33 cents), Washington $3.30 (+32 cents), Oregon $3.12 (+29 cents), Idaho $2.90 (+26 cents) and Montana $2.78 (+15 cents).<\/li>\n<li>The nation\u2019s <strong>top 10<\/strong><strong>largest monthly<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>decreases<\/strong>&nbsp;are: Nebraska $2.25 (-46 cents), Iowa $2.19 (-46 cents), Michigan $2.27 (-45 cents), Kentucky $2.14 (-42 cents), Kansas $2.16 (-42 cents), Missouri $2.05 (-41 cents), Indiana $2.21 (-41 cents), Ohio $2.13 (-41 cents), Illinois $2.36 (-41 cents) and Oklahoma $2.11 (-39 cents).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Great Lakes and Central<\/h3>\n<p>The gas price average in every Great Lakes and Central state is cheaper year-over-year with some pump prices a quarter\/gallon less: Iowa (-29 cents), Kentucky (-25 cents), Nebraska (-23 cents), Ohio (-19 cents), Missouri (-18 cents), Michigan (-17 cents) and Kansas (-17 cents).<\/p>\n<p>[320left]With a 15-cent weekly decrease, Ohio ($2.13) has the largest drop in the region and the country on the week. Motorists in Kansas (-13 cents), Kentucky (-13 cent), Nebraska (-13 cents), Missouri (-13 cents), Illinois (-12 cents), Michigan (-12 cents), Indiana (-12 cents), Iowa (-11 cents), South Dakota (-11 cents), Wisconsin (-10 cents) and North Dakota (-10 cents) all saw double-digit price drops at the pump to kick-off the week.<\/p>\n<p>With a four percent jump in regional refinery utilization, stocks built by nearly 680,000 bbl on the week. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the region saw stocks mostly build throughout November. Now at 46.8 million bbl, stocks sit at their highest point since the end of October.<\/p>\n<h3>South and Southeast<\/h3>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2018-10-Largest-Monthly-Decreases-in-Gas-Prices-December-3rd.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-439895\" title=\"2018 - 10 Largest Monthly Decreases in Gas Prices - December 3rd\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2018-10-Largest-Monthly-Decreases-in-Gas-Prices-December-3rd-480x240.jpg\" alt=\"2018 - 10 Largest Monthly Decreases in Gas Prices - December 3rd\" width=\"480\" height=\"240\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gas prices are not only cheaper on the week, but also less expensive compared to a month and a year ago across the South and Southeast region.<\/p>\n<p>Month-over-month, motorists are seeing the largest savings \u2013 up to 30 cents or more\/gallon: Oklahoma (-39 cents), Georgia (-37 cents), Arkansas (-36 cents), Texas (-35 cents), Alabama (-35 cents), Mississippi (-35 cents), Louisiana (-34 cents), South Carolina (-34 cents), Florida (-31 cents) and New Mexico (-29 cents). To boot, every state in the region has at least a few stations selling regular unleaded for $2\/gallon or less.<\/p>\n<p>On the week, stocks drew by nearly 950,000 bbl pushing total levels to 82.8 million bbl. The draw could likely be attributed to a high number of exports since regional refinery utilization jumped to 97 percent, according to EIA data. With utilization up, stocks are likely to build in the coming week and keep pump prices low.<\/p>\n<h3>Mid-Atlantic and Northeast<\/h3>\n<p>At $2.20, Delaware has the cheapest gas price average of any state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region. It also has the third largest year-over-year difference in pump prices in the country.<\/p>\n<p>[320right]Including Delaware (-18 cents), only seven states in the region have pump prices cheaper today than a year ago: Maryland (-9 cents), Maine (-6 cents), Pennsylvania (-6 cents), North Carolina (-2 cents) New Jersey (-2 cents) and Virginia (-2 cents). Vermont (+15 cents) has the largest year-over-year difference in prices.<\/p>\n<p>Despite a draw of nearly 700,000 bbl, gasoline stocks continue to measure above 61 million bbl, the EIA reports. Regional refinery unitization jumped to 86 percent (from 77 percent the prior week) indicating that a large build could be coming in the week ahead and contribute towards reducing gas prices even further.<\/p>\n<h3>Rockies<\/h3>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2018-10-Largest-Yearly-Increases-in-Gas-Prices-December-3rd.jpg\"  class=\"thickbox no_icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-439896\" title=\"2018 - 10 Largest Yearly Increases in Gas Prices - December 3rd\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clarksvilleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/2018-10-Largest-Yearly-Increases-in-Gas-Prices-December-3rd-480x240.jpg\" alt=\"2018 - 10 Largest Yearly Increases in Gas Prices - December 3rd\" width=\"480\" height=\"240\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While state gas price averages in the Rockies are as much as 3 to 10 cents cheaper than last month, they are much more expensive year-over-year: Utah (+35 cents), Wyoming (+33 cents), Idaho (+26 cents), Montana (+15 cents) and Colorado (+6 cents). The good news is prices are falling. At $2.58, Colorado (-9 cents) saw the largest pump price drop in the region.<\/p>\n<p>EIA data reports that both regional stocks and refinery utilization remained stable on the week. Stocks continue to register above the 6.8 million bbl mark, a healthy level and about 63,000 bbl surplus year-over-year.<\/p>\n<h3>West Coast<\/h3>\n<p>Pump prices&nbsp;in the West Coast region remain among the highest in the nation, with all&nbsp;of the region\u2019s states landing on the nation\u2019s top 10 most expensive list.<\/p>\n<p>[320left]Hawaii ($3.64) is the nation\u2019s most expensive market, followed by California ($3.53), Washington ($3.30), Alaska ($3.22), Nevada ($3.15), Oregon ($3.12), and Arizona ($2.80). While expensive, they are getting cheaper with all state averages being lower on the week: Hawaii (-11 cents), California (-8 cents) and Washington (-6 cents) saw the largest drops.<\/p>\n<p>The EIA\u2019s weekly petroleum status report for the week ending on November 23, showed West Coast gasoline stocks increased by approximately 100,000 bbl to 27 million bbl. Stocks are approximately 1.8 million bbl lower than at this time last year, which could cause prices to spike if there is a supply challenge in the region this week.<\/p>\n<h3>Oil Market Dynamics<\/h3>\n<p>At the close of Friday\u2019s formal trading session on the NYMEX, WTI dropped to settle at $50.93. Crude prices continued to fall last week, reaching their lowest point since October 2017. The drop in price has many market observers speculating that at this week\u2019s OPEC meeting on December 6th in Vienna, Austria, the cartel, alongside Russia, will announce a reduction in crude production, aimed at raising the global price of crude.<\/p>\n<p>The exact impact on global prices will be determined by how severe the production&nbsp;cut is and how long the reduction agreement will be held in place.&nbsp;In related news, this morning, Qatar announced it would withdraw from OPEC to develop and increase its natural gas production. The withdrawal will likely not have a huge impact on production as Qatar accounts for just under two percent of OPEC total output.<\/p>\n<p>In the U.S.,&nbsp;total domestic crude inventories continue to climb. In the latest weekly petroleum status report from the EIA, crude inventories grew to 450.5 million bbl.&nbsp; This is strong for the year, even though it&nbsp;is approximately 3.7 million bbl lower than last year\u2019s level at this time. If this week\u2019s EIA report shows another crude inventory&nbsp;build, the news will likely help crude&nbsp;prices remain low.<\/p>\n<p>Motorists can find current gas prices along their route with the free AAA Mobile app for iPhone, iPad and Android. The app can also be used to map a route, find discounts, book a hotel and access AAA roadside assistance. Learn more at&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/aaa.com\/mobile\" >AAA.com\/mobile<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AAA Tampa, FL &#8211; On the week, motorists in 32 states are paying less to fill up compared to a year ago. As the national gas price average drops to $2.46 it sets a new low price for the year and is cheaper than a year ago by two cents. The last time the daily [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[1361,2795,9166,1834,2796,5451,7061,7701,10654,9969,9800,2845,6620,2797,10205,10655,1638,1639,1640,11856,4050,1641,2799,2846,1642,2800,2801,1644,5576,7112,4051,1838,2847,5227,1837,5577,9271,1646,9284,2848,9273,1839,1647,12260,9372,2803,7062,7656,1840,7063,9624,11332,1648,5588,1650,9460,4052],"class_list":["post-14141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-aaa","tag-alabama","tag-alaska","tag-arizona","tag-arkansas","tag-california","tag-colorado","tag-crude-oil","tag-delaware","tag-eia","tag-energy-information-administration","tag-florida","tag-gas-prices","tag-georgia","tag-hawaii","tag-idaho","tag-illinois","tag-indiana","tag-iowa","tag-jeanette-casselano","tag-kansas","tag-kentucky","tag-louisiana","tag-maine","tag-maryland","tag-michigan","tag-mississippi","tag-missouri","tag-montana","tag-natural-gas","tag-nebraska","tag-nevada","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-mexico","tag-north-carolina","tag-north-dakota","tag-nymex","tag-ohio","tag-oil-prices","tag-oklahoma","tag-opec","tag-oregon","tag-pennsylvania","tag-qatar","tag-russia","tag-south-carolina","tag-south-dakota","tag-tampa-fl","tag-texas","tag-utah","tag-vermont","tag-vienna-austria","tag-virginia","tag-washington","tag-wisconsin","tag-wti","tag-wyoming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14142,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14141\/revisions\/14142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}