Gasoline prices decrease again in Ohio

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Average retail gasoline prices in Ohio have fallen 7.8 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.29 per gallon on Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 5,345 gas outlets in Ohio. This compares with the national average, which has fallen 5.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.55 per gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

Including the change in gas prices in Ohio during the past week, prices Sunday were 21.9 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 1.9 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has increased 19.6 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 34.7 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.

“For the second straight week, almost every state saw average gasoline prices fall notably as refineries continue to heal after Harvey and work on restoring production of motor fuels,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “While oil prices have gained momentum in the last few weeks, it will not be enough to stymie the continued decline at gas pumps, which will bring the national average down another 5-10 cents in the week ahead.

“Impressively, some gas stations in areas of the Great Lakes have dropped their prices by as much as 30-65 cents per gallon in the last two weeks, even as the national average has dropped just half of that, thanks to intense price wars and undercutting,” DeHaan added. “But for those motorists in those states — Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky — prices may temporarily bounce back up in the next day or two as stations reset their prices.

“Nationwide, many motorists have asked why all gas prices haven’t come back down to pre-Harvey levels, and while the answer is complex, in short, it will take weeks or months to see gasoline inventories recover fully, but prices will continue to slowly drift lower as inventories slowly improve,” DeHaan noted.