Metro Albany again lowest of Georgia MSAs at gas pump

ALBANY — Motorists in metro Albany were enjoying a second straight week of being at the bottom of the oil barrel, so to speak, with the lowest average gas price among Georgia’s eight largest metro areas.

The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report on Monday had the average price of a gallon of gas in the five-county area at $2.299, 5.7 cents lower than runner-up Macon. Since last week, Albany has seen a decrease of 6.9 cents in its average, which also is 36.3 cents below where it stood a month ago.

Georgia also dipped below the national average on both major gas surveys — AAA’s report and GasBuddy’s Fuel Insights.

According to AAA’s report, Georgia’s average gas price, which it pegged at $2.436 Monday (GasBuddy’s survey was a penny lower), has declined for 34 consecutive days.

“Motorists have enjoyed a monthlong plunge at the pump after prices skyrocketed because of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma,” Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA Auto Club Group, said. “Oil and wholesale gasoline prices inched higher last week, but not high enough to stop the downward trend at the pump just yet.

“Retail prices are still inflated by a little more than 10 cents, thanks to the hurricanes. So motorists should expect another round of discounts this week.”

The highest cost of gas on AAA’s survey of Georgia metro areas was Savannah, which checked in at $2.475 on Monday.

The week-to-week decline in Georgia’s average was 7.3 cents on AAA’s survey and just under a nickel on GasBuddy’s report. Compared to a month ago, the state’s drivers are spending 26.2 cents (GasBuddy) to 29.2 cents (AAA) less per gallon.

Nationally on Monday, AAA had the average at $2.471, down 2.3 cents in a week, 16.2 cents under a month ago. GasBuddy had the U.S. average at $2.457, down 1.5 cents in a week and 16 cents below last month.

“For the fifth straight week, the national average gasoline price has moved lower,” Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said. “Though not all states saw decreases in the last week, we nonetheless saw the nation’s average price per gallon fall as we continue into the peak of fall, which is hardly a surprise.

“While prices nationally remain an average of 20 cents higher than a year ago, we’ll likely continue to see improvement at the pump into a sixth week as supply outpaces demand and gasoline inventories continue their slow recovery as we soon close out an active hurricane season.”

Prices remained well above 2016 levels Monday. According to AAA’s survey, metro Albany residents are paying 12.2 cents more on average than the same date last year, while statewide the difference is up 17.9 cents and nationally it’s 22.7 cents higher. On GasBuddy’s survey, the year-to-year increase nationally is 21.4 cents, and in Georgia the increase is 17.4 cents.

The tropical hurricane season is still in effect, but there’s no indication of a supply-interrupting storm like Harvey or Irma on the immediate horizon. The National Hurricane Center’s five-day outlook on Monday showed one potential cyclone, a low pressure system located in the Atlantic several hundred miles east of the Central Bahamas.

The NHC gave the disorganized system a 40 percent chance of developing into a cyclone within two to five days, with the system expected to move north or northeast, away from the U.S. mainland.