Gas Price Drops At Pump For Holiday Travel

Dec 19, 2011 at 06:48 am by bryan


Prices at the pump continue to fall as motorists near the year-end travel holiday of December 23 through January 2. The current national average price for a gallon of gas is $3.22, approximately 6 percent more than the average of last year's travel period of $3.04 and 5 cents less than last week's average of $3.27. The downward trend of retail gasoline prices is expected to continue into the New Year as oil prices drop back below $95 a barrel. Crude oil settled Friday at $93.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange—$5.88 less than the week prior.

Europe's lingering debt issues and somber economic outlook continue to put downward pressure on oil prices. The dollar gained momentum after the value of the euro fell curbing the appeal of oil as a commodity. Oil prices also dropped after OPEC agreed to increase output quotas to 30 million barrels a day to meet future expected growth numbers.

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"Retail gas prices are forecast to decrease further as we near the year-end holiday travel period—a welcomed gift to motorists," said Jessica Brady, AAA spokesperson, The Auto Club Group. "Although gas prices are almost 20 cents more than they were last year, they are substantially less than this year's peak price of $3.98 a gallon."

The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.22 per gallon, 5 cents less than last week. Florida’s average price of $3.26 and Tennessee’s average price of $3.06 are both 4 cents less than last week. Georgia’s average price of 3.15 reflects a 6-cent decrease from last week, respectively.  Here in Murfreesboro, some discounters are making a Merrier Christmas for motorists with regular gas at $2.95 per gallon. 

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