Georgia, national gas prices continue to fall

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Georgia gas prices decreased at the pump compared to a week ago.

Georgia motorists are now paying an average price of $3.18 per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline. Monday’s state average is 4 cents less than a week ago, 7 cents less than last month and $1.18 more than this time last year, according to AAA-The Auto Club Group.

“Georgians caught a slight break at the pump for the past few weeks, but are unsure how long this trend will last,” said Montrae Waiters, AAA-The Auto Club Group spokeswoman. “Unfortunately, we don’t know if concerns of the COVID-19 Omicron variant will continue to push oil and gas prices lower for the remainder of the month.”

Savannah gas prices have fallen 5.8 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.21 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 262 stations in Savannah. Gas prices in Savannah are 11.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand $1.18 per gallon higher than a year ago.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Savannah is priced at $2.49 per gallon Monday while the most expensive is $3.59 per gallon, a difference of $1.10 per gallon. The lowest price in the state Monday is $2.49 per gallon while the highest is $4.11 per gallon, a difference of $1.62 per gallon.

Neighboring areas and their current gas prices:

Jacksonville- $3.27 per gallon, down 4.5 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.31 per gallon.
Augusta- $3.07 per gallon, down 4.0 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.11 per gallon.
South Carolina- $3.02 per gallon, down 5.3 cents per gallon from last week’s $3.07 per gallon.

“The downturn in average gas prices continued to gain momentum last week as oil prices remained at a hefty discount. This is largely due to continued anxiety over the omicron variant and because some countries have begun issuing lockdowns, keeping motorists in some countries from consuming as much fuel,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. “While the Great Lakes region, the fastest to see prices respond to market fluctuations, is seeing hefty monthly declines approaching 30 cents per gallon, much of the rest of the country is lagging behind. But, we will see precipitous declines in the next week or two as stations continue to sell through higher priced inventory before slowly lowering their prices. It’s not impossible given the conditions that price wars, where stations lower their price significantly, could emerge as stations now have considerable room to lower prices.”

The national average price of gasoline has fallen 5.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.34 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy.