Gas prices dip for first time in weeks

BALTIMORE, MD—After weeks of surging gas prices, U.S. drivers are finally getting a tiny bit of relief. The national average price as of July 20 fell 1.9 cents to $3.47 per gallon, nearing a 10-day low.

According to GasBuddy, the average price of diesel fell 4 cents in the last week and stands at $3.79 per gallon. This is the same level as a year ago.

“Most of the country has seen a reprieve from rising gasoline prices, thanks to weaker-than-expected gasoline demand, building supplies and a quiet period in the tropics,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

De Haan said that while a good portion of the country has seen gas prices decline, severe weather completely knocked out power to a major refinery outside Chicago early last week. This immediately impacted gasoline supplies to Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, pushing prices up considerably.

“We’ve often said how critical refineries are, and with a long power outage, we’re seeing the impact very quickly, but relief will eventually arrive. For now, as we approach the end of summer vacations, I’m hopeful gas prices will continue to edge slightly lower in the week ahead.”

It remains to be seen if this trend can be sustained in the weeks to come. However, the recent data suggests that consumers are already starting to feel the pain of high inflation and rising gas prices.

In the Baltimore metro area, the cheapest gas this week could be found at the following locations:

Photo via Pixabay

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.