Tennessee Gas Prices Hit Seven-Month Lows
The state average price for a gallon of regular unleaded fell 5 cents last week to $2.56, 17 cents less than this year's high but 28 cents more than this time last year, AAA reported. The state average declined for the 24th consecutive day on Sunday for a total discount of 14 cents.
According to Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA, “Tennesseans are saving 20 cents per gallon, compared to when gas prices peaked during Memorial Day weekend.” He added that, “gasoline is becoming less expensive to produce and sell thanks to lower crude prices and cheaper-to-produce winter blend fuel. Retail prices have not quite caught up with declines on the wholesale side, so motorists should see another round of discounts this week. However, fuel prices definitely have the potential to reverse course based on any fluctuations in the stock market due to Election Day and the activation of U.S. sanctions against Iranian crude. Regardless, AAA believes the highest prices of the year are behind us.”
This is great news for drivers across the state. Some of the local averages have hit prices as low as $2.46 in Cleveland, $2.48 in Chattanooga, and $2.52 in Knoxville. The most expensive gas price averages in the state were found in Nashville ($2.62) and Morristown and Jackson ($2.58). Local averages were seen in both Kingsport-Bristol and Johnson with prices ranging between $2.54 and $2.57.
Crude oil prices additionally fell to seven-month lows, with AAA reporting that the weekly average prices for U.S. crude oil has continuously dropped over the last few months. In fact, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled per barrel at $63.14. Which is nearly $4.50 less than preceding months and is also the lowest daily settlement since at least April 6th of this year.
Earlier this year, crude oil prices were faced with growing pressure amidst increasing worries that sanctions in the United States against crude in Iran would lead to a global shortage in supply. Recently, however, concerns were extinguished thanks to an increase in the production from various countries such as Russia, the United States, and Saudi Arabia.
According to AAA, the Trump Administration recently stated that the United States would go about re-imposing Iranian sanctions that were previously lifted by the Obama Administration back in 2015. Those sanctions were set in motion to target the energy sector of Iran and impeded the ability of Iran to sell oil. While Iran is most certainly a huge oil reserve holder, they still only rank 4th in terms of being the world’s largest. Saudi Arabia and Iraq still top the charts of being the top exporters to the United States.
It will undoubtedly be interesting to see how gas prices rise and fall in the upcoming months, it is most certainly of no great surprise that drivers are still experiencing a nice sense of relief just before the holiday season approaches. However, we can all agree that any gas price break is most certainly a welcome benefit at any time of the year!