WASHINGTON, Aug. 11 (UPI) — Declining trends in the global oil market has spilled over to everyday U.S. consumers, who saw prices at the pump drop for nearly a month straight, AAA finds.
AAA reports a national average retail price for a gallon of gasoline for Tuesday at $2.58, down from the $2.59 for Monday and the $2.64 average one week ago. Tuesday’s price reflects 27 straight days for declines and largely mirrors momentum in the crude oil market.
The global benchmark for crude oil prices, Brent, was trading early Tuesday at around $50 per barrel, about 20 percent below July 1 prices and more than 50 percent lower than one year ago. The national average price for a gallon of gasoline on this date in 2014 was $3.48.
AAA says crude oil prices account for about 40 percent of the price at the pump.
“Expectations that the global oil market will remain oversupplied in the near term are keeping downward pressure on the price of crude,” it said in a weekly status report.
South Carolina has the lowest state average price in the nation at $2.19 per gallon. More than half of all U.S. states in late 2014 posted averages below the $2 mark. AAA said it expects gasoline prices will continue to drift lower in the days leading up to the long Labor Day holiday.
Patrick DeHaan, an analyst for the price-watching website GasBuddy.com, said in a separate statement there may be some volatility in regional prices.
“While the national average stands to continue dropping, regional volatility will likely remain a factor- primarily on the West Coast, where ExxonMobil’s Torrance refinery remains down from an explosion earlier in the year, keeping California reliant on out of market supply flow for keeping prices subdued,” he said.
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