COLUMBUS – Motorists continue to enjoy lower prices at the gas pumps as the week begins and industry observers are still predicting the price could go lower.
The average price for a gallon of regular gas in Columbus was about $2.14 in Monday’s survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and WEX Inc. That’s 19 cents less than a week ago, and about 8 cents less compared with what drivers were paying last month at this time.
“Crude oil prices recently took a dive, just in the past few days. This resumed the price crash at the pump,” industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said. She says lower wholesale prices led retailers to slash their prices as well.
Lundberg reported Sunday that prices have fallen 63 cents in the past 19 weeks, according to her biweekly survey. The average price in Columbus fell 38 cents since Oct. 12 while the average price in Lundberg’s survey was dropping only 10 cents.
A year ago at this time, the state average was $2.95 for regular fuel, according to AAA.
Monday’s national average for regular fuel was $2.20, down about six cents from a week ago. The national average was $3.05 at this time a year ago.