NEO gas prices drop more than 5 cents

Northeast Ohio’s average price for a gallon of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline is currently $3.593 at the pump. This equates to a drop of 5.6 cents from the previous week.

According to AAA’s Fuel Gauge, the current national retail average price for a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline is $3.652. Today’s average price is 5.1 cents cheaper than one week ago, but still 2.5 cents higher than one month ago and 87.8 cents higher than one year ago.

An increase in crude oil stocks suggests that supply is outpacing demand and puts downward pressure on oil prices. At the close of formal trading on the NYMEX, crude oil settled $5.57 lower at $41.31 per barrel. In just two weeks the price of crude oil has declined $18.28 per barrel or more than 18 percent.

While the price of retail gasoline is tied to the price of crude oil, consumer relief at the pump often lags declines in crude prices, as cheaper oil works its way through the refining and distribution process.

AAA East Central is a nonprofit association with 80 local offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and Kentucky servicing 2.6 million members.