Gas Prices Fall Another Seven Cents In Last Week

The price of gasoline continued its steady decline for another week, falling seven cents a gallon in the last seven days.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.601 a gallon, down from $3.675 last Friday, according to AAA's daily Fuel Gauge Survey. The price is down 19 cents in the last month, but is 15 cents higher than at this time a year ago.

The price of diesel fuel is $3.951 a gallon, down from $3.982 in the last week.

Earlier this week the U.S. and its allies released crude oil from their strategic reserves, an action which sent crude oil prices tumbling toward $90 a barrel. The action is designed to flood the market with supply and create lower prices. However, prices have been falling in recent weeks on concerns that global economic activity isn't as strong as many believed.

Thursday the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) disclosed that the agency had begun an investigation of oil market and refining operations, to determine if there has been any manipulation that caused higher prices.

The states with the most expensive gasoline today are:

• Alaska ($4.138)
• Hawaii ($4.063)
• Connecticut ($3.967)
• Washington, DC ($3.923)
• New York ($3.900)
• Illinois ($3.828)
• California ($3.869)
• Washington ($3.855)
• Oregon ($3.813)
• Vermont ($3.771)

The states with the least expensive gasoline today are:

• South Carolina ($3.347)
• Tennessee ($3.419)
• Missouri ($3.420)
• Mississippi ($3.426)
• Alabama ($3.443)
• Arkansas ($3.450)
• Oklahoma ($3.460)
• Louisiana ($3.494)
• Virginia ($3.496)
• Texas ($3.563)