The trend of lower gasoline prices is continuing this week.
The average price for unleaded regular in Georgia on Tuesday was $3.52, down 7 cents from a week ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. Other grades were down as well: midgrade was $3.70, down from $3.77; premium $3.85, down from $3.93; and diesel $3.98, down from $4.03.
Georgia's prices were below the national average, which was $3.72 for regular.
West Coast states, on the other hand, beset by refinery problems and higher-than-average gas taxes, were seeing much higher pump prices: $4.36 in California, $4.18 in Oregon and $4.21 in Washington. The highest prices were in Hawaii at $4.54. In California, the average price was up 15 cents from a week ago. Four of the state's 12 refineries are temporarily closed for maintenance and a BP refinery in Washington is still closed due to a fire in March.
"With only 12 refineries in California, any shutdown becomes a major problem," Charles Langley, a gasoline analyst with the San Diego-based Utility Consumers' Action Network, told the Los Angeles Times. "This is all about supply and demand."
In Georgia, the cheapest gas was found in Macon at an average of $3.36 for regular; the most expensive was Athens at $3.57. In metro Atlanta, the average was $3.55.
Several stations in the Macon-Warner Robins area were selling regular for $3.19 a gallon Tuesday, according to gasbuddy.com. The cheapest in metro Atlanta was $3.34 at a Murphy USA station on Rockbridge Road in DeKalb County.
The driving force behind the lower gas prices continues to be the falling price of oil. There is also speculation that gas prices could be helped this year after the first pipeline linking Canadian oil to Gulf Coast refineries goes on line next week, according to Channel 2 Action News.
U.S. oil prices fell $1.35 Monday to close at $94.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since Dec. 19.
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