Gas prices edge lower, though Gainesville still takes third for highest gas prices in the state.
The national average Sunday was $2.85 per gallon, down a tenth of a cent, while the state average was $2.71. That's one cent more than a year ago, according to the latest fuel price report from AAA.
"Even though oil prices rose last week, prices at the pump slipped lower because of declines in gasoline demand," said Mark Jenkins, spokesman for AAA. "The latest figures from the EIA show weekly demand hitting 4-week lows. Combining this autumn trend with the recent switch to a cheaper-to-produce winter blend gasoline, and prices at the pump could move even lower this fall. However, upward pressure persists due to concerns that there could be major crude supply challenges this fall, due to US-led sanctions against Iranian crude and sharp reductions in economically-stressed Venezuela."
Atlanta had the highest price at $2.77 and Savannah and Gainesville took second and third with $2.72.
Catoosa-Dade-Walker was the lowest at $2.58 per gallon.
Meanwhile, fuel tracking website GasBuddy.com reported Georgia prices averaged $2.66 a gallon - including the change locally during the past week, prices yesterday were just over three cents per gallon higher than a year ago and are almost two cents per gallon higher than a month ago.
"With a muted response from OPEC to President Trump's exhortation via Twitter that OPEC do something to reign in high oil prices, we may see energy markets rally as concerns grow that Iran's sanctions effective in November may pose more a challenge to global supply than anticipated," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. "Oil prices jumped to fresh highs last night on reaction to the chilly reception to Trump's concern, with several oil ministers downplaying the rise in oil prices. Moving forward, with Iran's oil essentially out of reach, gas prices may not see the typical decline we had been expecting as recently as the last two weeks as new concerns emerge about the tightrope balance some oil producing countries are hoping for- pushing supply down as global demand rises. That's not going to be good news for motorists."
GasBuddy surveys almost 6,000 gas stations for prices; AAA surveys based on credit card swipes and direct feeds.
