Oil prices pushed lower last week, giving motorists some hope for continued relief at the pump. The national average price for gasoline has climbed 14 cents since February, but that upward trend came to an end over the weekend.

"Falling oil and wholesale gas prices should signal lower prices at the pump this week," said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA - The Auto Club Group. "However, oil prices have been fickle this year, so motorists should expect continued volatility in the next couple of months as oil prices fluctuate, demand rises, and refineries complete the switchover to more expensive summer blends."

Georgia gas prices declined 8 of the past 9 days - fractions of a penny each day - averaging $2.28 on Sunday. Prices are hovering around levels not seen since October 2016, and are currently 19 cents higher than this time last year.  

• The most expensive metro markets in the state are Savannah ($2.32), Athens ($2.29), and Atlanta ($2.29). 
• The least expensive metro markets in the state are Augusta/Aiken ($2.20), Macon ($2.23), and Columbus ($2.27). 

Tennessee gas prices reached $2.18 on Thursday - the highest daily average since June 2016. The Tennessee average declined every day since, averaging $2.17 on Sunday. The current average is 22 cents more than this time last year.

• The most expensive metro markets in the state are Memphis ($2.19), Knoxville ($2.19), and Nashville ($2.18).
• The least expensive metro markets in the state are Clarksville/Hopkinsville ($2.10), Chattanooga ($2.13), and Johnson City/Kingsport/Bristol ($2.15) 

Motorists can find the lowest gas prices in their area by downloading the free AAA Mobile app.

Oil Prices Hit 3-week Lows

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, WTI was down $1.09  on the day, to settle at $49.62. The decrease over last week’s settlement came amid news that Russia said it would be willing to extend its cut to crude oil production that was agreed upon with OPEC last year. However, demand continues to grow steadily, with total U.S. petroleum deliveries in March reaching their highest point for this time of the year since 2008, according to the American Petroleum Institute. OPEC, Russia and other producers agreed to cut production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) during the first half of the year. They will reconvene on May 25 to discuss the potential of extending the agreement through the second half of 2017. Analysts are pessimistic the extension will carry, based on concerns that OPEC would lose market share to the United States, whose shale oil sector has helped push domestic inventories to record levels.

Fuel Fundamentals
(Based on weekly data provided by the EIA)

• Crude oil prices declined $3 last week, settling at $49.62 on Friday - the lowest daily settlement since March 29 
• Wholesale gasoline prices are 10 cents less than a week ago 
• U.S. crude inventories declined 0.10 percent to 1.2 million barrels
• Domestic crude production rose 17 barrels a day to 9.3 million
• Gasoline demand declined by 0.56 percent
• Gasoline inventories remain slightly lower than last year, but climbed more than a half percent compared to the week before
• Gasoline production rose 1.4 percent; eclipsing year-ago levels 
• Refineries increased capacity 4 percentage points; surpassing year-ago levels

Daily national, state, and metro gas price averages can be found at Gasprices.aaa.com. Motorists can find the lowest gas prices along their route with the free AAA Mobile app for iPhone, iPad and Android. The app can also be used to map a route, find discounts, book a hotel and access AAA roadside assistance. Learn more at AAA.com/mobile.

CURRENT AND PAST PRICE AVERAGES

Regular Unleaded Gasoline

	Sunday	Saturday	Week Ago	Month Ago	One Year Ago	Highest Price on Record
National	$2.420	$2.421	$2.407	$2.292	$2.131	$4.114 (7/17/2008)
Georgia	$2.282	$2.284	$2.288	$2.167	$2.086	$4.164 (9/15/2008)