COLUMBUS – Just as the busy summer travel season gets into full swing, Ohio motorists are getting good news about prices at the gas pump.
The statewide average price Monday morning of $2.56 a gallon was 22 cents cheaper than a week ago, according to a daily survey from the auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX, Inc.
Prices in the state hit a high of $2.78 a gallon on May 17 but are headed downward, AAA Ohio’s Kim Schwind.
“What we’re looking at now is refineries wrapping up their spring maintenance season, crude oil prices are lower and so that’s definitely contributing to a little bit lower gas prices, and more stable (prices),” Schwind said.
The average price in oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg’s survey dropped 9 cents per gallon over the past three weeks to $2.84. She also says lower crude oil prices contributed to the drop at the pump, which she expects to continue.
Retail prices of gasoline are probably going to fall further, even if crude oil prices don’t,” Lundberg said.
Although the average price in Columbus fell by 15 cents during that same three-week period to $2.53, that’s still a little too high for a lot of Ohioans, one-third of whom say prices become “too expensive” at $2.50 a gallon, according to the AAA’s annual gas price survey.
That is when many drivers begin to make changes in their lives – driving less, reducing shopping and dining out, buying more fuel-efficient vehicles – that impact the overall economy, Schwind said.
Ohio’s average gas price started the year at $1.90 a gallon and reached $2.78 on May 17 before starting their current slide. Last year, Ohio’s gas prices averaged $2.77 a gallon during the summer, after hitting a high of $2.91 on May 24.