COLUMBUS, Ohio – Gas prices are easing in Columbus faster than around the rest of the country.
The latest Trilby Lundberg Survey shows retail prices dropped just over 5 cents per gallon during the past two weeks, but a daily survey by the AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express shows the average price in central Ohio has declined 13 cents since Feb. 25 and has dropped 20 cents in one week.
The first price drop of this year was helped by the easing of crude oil prices.
The nationwide average price of regular gas was just over $3.73 per gallon on March 8th, according to Lundberg.
The average price in Columbus was $3.52, 32 cents less expensive than one year ago.
Sharply higher pump prices in January and February were driven by refinery maintenance and concerns, which pressured wholesale gasoline prices higher, while crude oil prices only rose slightly during the same period, AAA public relations manager Michael Green said.
He says the decline supports his prediction that gas prices will peak earlier in the spring than last year, which they reached their highest levels of the year in May, though the highest price of the year in Columbus — $3.96 a gallon – was recorded on March 27.
The AAA has predicted the average price of gasoline nationwide for all of 2013 will be $3.57 a gallon, two cents higher than last year which was the highest average price on record.