COLUMBUS – Despite predictions of a spike in the offing, gas prices in Columbus are at their lowest point in over a month.
The average retail price of a gallon of regular gasoline in central Ohio Monday morning was $2.17, 16 cents cheaper than last week, according to a daily survey from the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Network and WEX, Inc.
The local price was well below the statewide average of $2.22 and the nationwide average of $2.33.
Analysts predicted that as Labor Day approaches and demand and production rates grow, drivers would likely see some of the highest prices at the pump this year, but the prices Monday morning in Columbus were the lowest since July 17.
Prices in the Great Lakes region remain volatile, as usual, with the 9-cent decline in the price in Ohio coming on the heels of a 6-cent increase from on August 7 to August 14, one of the biggest increases in the nation. That came, in turn, after one of the nation’s biggest price drops — 7 cents – between July 31 and August 7.