Gas Prices Drop Another Five Cents A Gallon

A world economic slowdown continues to take its toll on the crude oil market, with the benefit for consumers of lower fuel prices.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.390, down from $3.445 last Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. That's about 26 cents a gallon less than consumers were paying a month ago.

The average price of diesel fuel today is $3.800 per gallon, down from $3.835 a week ago.

“While crude oil prices have seen sharp price increases and decreases on a daily basis, drivers have experienced welcome relief as the national price at the pump has continued to move lower for nearly a month,” said Avery Ash, AAA's manager of Federal Relations.

But despite world economic worries, there is evidence that U.S. suppliers are trimming their inventories, reducing surpluses that pull prices even lower. The weekly reports from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell by 1.4 percent last week. At the same time, supplies of refined gasoline dropped 0.5 percent, and are now 2.8 percent below the levels at this time last year.

Among the states, prices dropped the most this week in the states with the lowest prices, while prices remained more stable in states where prices are the highest. For another week, the most expensive gas was found mostly in the Northwest while the cheapest gas was in the Southeast.

The states with the most expensive gas this week are:

• Hawaii ($4.238)
• Alaska ($3.975)
• California ($3.803)
• Washington ($3.794)
• Oregon ($3.761)
• New York ($3.711)
• Connecticut ($3.701)
• Idaho ($3.699)
• Nevada ($3.610)
• Montana ($3.607)

The states with the least expensive gas this week are:

• South Carolina ($3.131)
• Missouri ($3.108)
• Tennessee ($3.191)
• Texas ($3.197)
• Louisiana ($3.212)
• Oklahoma ($3.223)
• Virginia ($3.238)
• Mississippi ($3.239)
• Arkansas ($3.266)
• Alabama ($3.258)