While there have been some signs of moderation, in some places it has been brutal: Prices rose above $5 a gallon in California earlier this week, according to news reports. The lowest local price of $2.35 was offered by membership retailers Sam’s Club and Costco.
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Meanwhile, demand for gasoline has increased 4.1 percent over the past year, so those refineries that can keep supplies coming are also profiting, as Americans buy bigger cars and drive more this summer, said Justin Jenkins, a Houston-based analyst at Raymond James & Associates who follows the industry. This is the longest streak of consecutive declines since January, and pump prices have dropped lower by 20 cents per gallon.
We’re speaking with the Senator, the Attorney General’s Office and Gas-buddy dot-com to find out if the refinery is actually to blame or if this could be a case of price gouging.
Although plunging oil prices are hitting a six-year low, gasoline prices have not fallen almost as much.
Of the major metropolitan areas surveyed in Texas, drivers in El Paso are paying the most on average at $2.59 per gallon while drivers in Texarkana are paying the least at $2.27 per gallon, AAA said.
“Expectations that the global oil market will remain oversupplied in the near term are keeping downward pressure on the price of crude”, AAA stated.
If gas prices were to fall below the $2 per gallon threshold, however, consumers say that it would have a very significant impact on their driving and spending behavior.
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That benefit, however, is not being felt in the Midwest, where a dramatic spike in gas prices this week is expected to continue.
