Christmas discount is arriving at gas pumps

ALBANY — Despite expected record travel on U.S. roadways for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, gas pump prices are moving downward.

On Monday, metro Albany prices — second-lowest of Georgia’s 15 metro areas — were averaging within a nickel of where they were a year ago.

While there are concerns that the anticipated “spring sting” at the pump in 2018 could be especially painful, the year appears to be wrapping up in a consumer-friendly fashion.

“As we approach Christmas, average gas prices in the U.S. have fallen to their lowest point in 110 days, just as Hurricane Harvey began causing prices to spike,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said Monday. “Not exactly the Christmas gift some hoped for, but it’s about time nonetheless.”

In reporting the national average price of a gallon of gas, GasBuddy and AAA Auto Club Group, each of which conducts a survey of thousands of retail gas businesses across the nation, were within two-tenths of a cent of each other Monday, with the two surveys averaging $2.428. The surveys show a drop of 2.6-3.3 cents in a week and 12 cents in a month. Compared to last year, U.S. motorists are paying 18.2-18.8 cents more, but that’s the smallest year-to-year gap in recent months.

“As long as demand for gasoline continues to weaken, gasoline inventories will continue growing and it’ll be the gift that keeps on giving,” DeHaan said. “In addition, the gap between prices today and a year ago is also at its narrowest in months, highlighting that prices are moving in the right direction for many.”

Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA, said the reason for the pump price drop is refinery storm recovery has come in time to deflect price jumps that might be caused by 90 percent of the more than 107 million U.S. travelers who will be on the roads and highways through New Year’s night.

“Gulf Coast refineries have completely recovered from the effects of Hurricane Harvey and are now flooding the market with fuel in anticipation of strong demand during the year-end holidays,” Jenkins said. “AAA forecasts a record-setting 97.4 million Americans will take a road trip during the final 10 days of the year.

“However, the strong supply of gasoline should help stave off any gas price hikes that would otherwise be caused by such a surge in demand.”

If gas continues falling at the current rate, he said, the average could drop another 8 cents by Christmas Day.

The surveys were a penny apart for Georgia on Monday, with AAA setting the average at $2.288 and GasBuddy pegging it at $2.278. AAA’s survey said that was a fall of 3.3 cents in a week and 11 cents in a month, while GasBuddy had the declines at 1.5 cents for the week and 9.1 cents for the month. Last year, Georgia drivers were paying about a dime per gallon less.

For the five-county metro Albany area, the difference between Monday’s $2.194 and last year’s $2.147 was only 4.7 cents. AAA’s survey showed a 4.9-cent decline in a week and a 12-cent drop from last month.

Albany trailed only Catoosa/Dade/Walker’s $2.172 among Georgia metro areas. The highest average was in metro Savannah, where motorists were paying $2.351 on Monday.

How long the lower prices last is another matter. While markets in 2017 frequently bucked historical trends, pump prices usually hit their low point in mid-February and then peak in early to mid June, shortly after driving season is in full swing. With OPEC, Russia and other non-U.S. oil producers agreeing last month to continue lower crude oil production levels through 2018, the so-called “spring sting” that sees gas prices rise could be more pronounced, market observers have said.

“As we look toward our annual Fuel Outlook being released just after the New Year, there are some bright spots along with some concerns that lay ahead for 2018,” DeHaan allowed.