Gas Prices Still Slowly Falling

For yet another week, gasoline prices defied volatile crude oil prices and drifted lower, giving consumers a much-needed break at the start of the holiday shopping season.

The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.289 per gallon, down from $3.312 last Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. That's 14 and a half cents a gallon less than what motorists were paying a month ago.

Even the price of diesel fuel is going down. The average price of diesel fuel today is $3.945 per gallon, down from $3.972 a week ago.

Prices at the pump have steadily fallen over the past month, to the point that in Missouri, the statewide average is within two cents of falling under the $3 a gallon mark. Individual stations in several states are already selling gas well under $3 a gallon.

In its weekly report, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said U.S. crude oi stockpiles increased by nearly four million barrels in the previous week - more than expected. At the same time, gasoline supplies were also up - for the fourth time in the last five weeks.

The rising stockpiles of fuel, coupled with continuing soft demand from consumers, could help explain the early holiday present consumers are finding at the gas pump.

The states with the most expensive gas this week are:

• Hawaii ($4.112)
• Alaska ($4.022)
• California ($3.667)
• Washington ($3.606)
• Oregon ($3.555)
• New York ($3.597)
• Connecticut ($3.579)
• Nevada ($3.479)
• Montana ($3.457)
• Vermont ($3.422)

The states with the least expensive gas this week are:

• Missouri ($3.017)
• New Mexico ($3.052)
• South Carolina ($3.071)
• Oklahoma ($3.092)
• Tennessee ($3.094)
• Texas ($3.103)
• Alabama ($3.127)
• Mississippi ($3.132)
• Louisiana ($3.133)
• Arkansas ($3.145)