COLUMBUS – Drivers in Columbus can find gas for under $2 a gallon if they know where to look.
The website GasBuddy.com indicated that stations were selling regular gasoline for $1.96 to $1.98 in Hilliard and Dublin early Monday morning, when the average retail price in central Ohio was $2.26, 31 cents lower than it was two weeks ago, according to a daily survey from the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Network and WSEX, Inc.
The average price of gas nationwide had fallen by 7 cents during that period, according to analyst Trilby Lundberg’s survey.
She says refiners had kept wholesale prices low in hopes of encouraging sales following a slump caused by Hurricane Harvey on the Gulf Coast.
Nevertheless, the AAA predicts gas prices through the end of the year will remain the highest since 2014 (See graph above).
The statewide average price of $2.31 in Ohio was 11 cents lower than a week ago, coming on the heels of a 12-cent weekly decline between Nov. 20 and 27, one of the nation’s largest drops, according to the AAA.
Average prices for regular-grade gasoline in central Ohio ranged from $2.22 in Franklin County to $2.34 in Madison and Pickaway counties, according to the auto club’s survey.