Gas Prices Drop Four Cents In Last Week

The price of gasoline began to drift lower during the week and is now down four cents a gallon from a week ago.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.611, down from $3.659 last Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. That's still nearly three cents a gallon higher than a month ago.

The average price of diesel fuel today is $3.898 per gallon, down from $3.911 a week ago.

Demand remains soft

In its weekly report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said gasoline demand was down 2.7 percent in the last month while supplies of gasoline had risen by two million barrels. That might ordinarily put downward pressure on prices, but the EIA noted earlier that U.S. refiners had significantly increased exports of gasoline and diesel fuel in the last year, keeping supplies tighter than they would normally.

While there has been little movement in the national average price of gasoline, many states and regions have seen significant changes in prices at the pump. A month ago states in the mountain west had among the lowest prices in the country. Now, the lowest prices are once again found in the southeast.

Arizona, which for weeks had the lowest prices in the country, has fallen out of the top 10 states with the lowest average gasoline price. Of the states with the lowest prices, all but Missouri are in the southeast.

The states with the most expensive gasoline today are:

• Hawaii ($4.200)
• Alaska ($3.987)
• California ($3.936)
• Connecticut ($3.922)
• Washington ($3.888)
• New York ($3.872)
• Oregon ($3.835)
• North Dakota ($3.828)
• Illinois ($3.792)
• Michigan ($3.755)
• Montana ($3.733)

The states with the least expensive gas this week are:

• South Carolina ($3.361)
• Missouri ($3.392)
• Tennessee ($3.412)
• Mississippi ($3.427)
• Texas ($3.432)
• Virginia ($3.459)
• Alabama ($3.497)
• Arkansas ($3.459)
• Louisiana ($3.453)
• Arkansas($3.459)