The final gas price report of 2014 is once again good news for consumers, as falling crude prices continue to deliver much lower prices at the pump week after week.
In Vancouver, a gallon of gasoline on average costs $2.56, down nine cents in a week, according to AAA Oregon/Idaho. Washington’s average gasoline price is $2.55 per gallon, the ninth highest in the nation. Oregon’s $2.54 average price is the tenth highest.
AAA estimates that drivers are saving more than $500 million per day from when gasoline prices hit their peak in the spring and summer. The national average peaked at $3.70 a gallon in April and the Washington average hit $4.01 per gallon on July 4.
The current national average of $2.27 per gallon is down 11 cents for the week. It has fallen 96 days in a row, AAA reported. Average prices nationally, and in Washington and Oregon, are at their lowest since May 2009.
Another barrier has fallen with this week’s AAA gas price survey. The states of Missouri and Oklahoma are now seeing average prices below $2 per gallon for the first time since 2009. Missouri is reporting a $1.92 per gallon average price, and Oklahoma’s average is $1.98.
Not every state is as fortunate. New York has the highest price in the continental U.S. at $2.80 per gallon. Hawaii tops all states at $3.51 per gallon, followed by Alaska at $3.07. But even those prices look like deals compared to what gasoline cost in Vancouver last summer.
Motorists are benefitting from overproduction of oil at home and overseas, combined with lower than expected global demand. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, so far has resisted curtailing production to stem the price drop. The falling prices put pressure on U.S. oil producers who face higher extraction and production costs.
Crude oil prices dropped to about $53 per barrel this week, compared to $56 a week ago. Current prices are about $46 lower than a year ago.
