Gas prices drop for sixth straight week; state average below $4 per gallon

Gasoline prices dropped for the sixth straight week, with several states now averaging below $4 per gallon. Oklahoma’s average went below that mark on Monday — the first time since May.

“Gas prices continue falling coast to coast, with the national average last week declining for the sixth straight week, or 40 days in a row,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, a fuel price-tracking service, in a blog post Monday.

“The national average is now down an astounding 70 cents in that timeframe,” he said.

“I have no reason yet to expect the decline won’t reach seven straight weeks, as gas stations still have plenty of room to decline as oil prices remain under $100 per barrel.

“However, should the tropics become more active, the decline could eventually reverse. In addition, this week we’ll see GDP data for the second quarter, and if it’s better than expected, we may see oil rally, slowing the descent,” De Haan said.

According to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, no tropical cyclone activity was expected in the Atlantic Ocean for at least the next 48 hours, it said Monday.

“For now, nine states are seeing average prices under $4 per gallon, a number that will rise this week, with over 40,000 stations under that level, keeping $266 million per day in motorists’ wallets versus mid-June,” De Haan said.

The price for regular unleaded at Tulsa-area QuikTrips was $3.75 per gallon on Monday. That’s down 74 cents per gallon from a few weeks ago, when the price hit a high of $4.49.

Oklahoma’s average price was $3.966 on Monday — 70 cents below the state’s all-time average high of $4.666 on June 15, according to AAA.

The states with the lowest average prices on Monday were Texas ($3.82), South Carolina ($3.83) and Mississippi ($3.87), according to GasBuddy.

The states with the highest prices were California ($5.71), Hawaii ($5.45) and Oregon ($5.17).

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey also said Sunday that the continued decline comes as crude oil costs also fall.

“Further drops at the pump are likely as the wholesale gasoline price cuts continue making their way to street level,” Lundberg said in a statement.

The national average price at the pump is down 55 cents over the past month, but it’s still $1.32 higher than it was a year ago, according to the survey.

The national average price of diesel also has declined 13 cents in the last week and stands at $5.41 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

The average price of diesel in Oklahoma and Tulsa on Monday was $4.907 and $4.884, respectively, according to AAA.

GasBuddy said that according to global oil field services company Baker Hughes, last week’s U.S. rig count was up two to 758, which is 267 rigs higher than a year earlier.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for September delivery rose $2 to $96.70 a barrel Monday.

Wholesale gasoline for August delivery rose 16 cents to $3.38 a gallon.

Oil markets have been somewhat mixed after bouncing off recent bottoms over the last two weeks, according to GasBuddy.

Concerns of tight supply have resurfaced, while the European Union moved to ease some sanctions on Russia’s oil exports, the company said.

“Continued volatility is expected this week as the Federal Reserve meets with expectations of another rise in interest rates,” De Hann said.