Franklin County drivers could see another gas price drop
Photo by AP Photo/Stephan Savoia
(Franklin County) — A two-cent drop in the price for a gallon of gas might not sound like a lot of money, but when you look at filling up a vehicle over a period of a month or a year, those pennies add up.
And when you look at many two-cent drops in gasoline prices the past three years, it amounts to a lot.
Gasoline prices dipped a little this week at most stations around the county — probably close to two cents a gallon on average, with quite a few local stations pennies below the national average of $2.26 a gallon.
Today’s average is a low unseen since February when prices dipped to close to $2 a gallon.
They are a lot lower than the $3.15 a gallon price this time last year and a whole lot lower than the almost $4 a gallon peak in March and April of 2012.
This week’s dip saw prices go as low as $2.19 at an Etter’s station in Fayetteville and Chambersburg’s BJ’s, with averages running $2.23 at most stations around the county, down from last week’s average of $2.25.
The highest price in the area was $2.69 a gallon at an Exxon station in Shippensburg, followed by $2.35 at several stations in Greencastle and Shippensburg.
While the price range varies community to community, there are enough lower-priced stations in most areas to make it possible for consumers to shop around for their gasoline without having to go too far to get to the cheapest station.
AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report says there are a number of factors in the differences in regional prices, but volatility in the market seems to be easing.
“Regionally volatility is relatively common at this time of year due to fluctuations in supply and demand,” the report said.
Part of the reason for lower prices is an ample domestic supply of gasoline which has kept pump prices down in addition to keeping the national average relatively stead during the past month.
While AAA is no longer predicting prices below $2 a gallon this winter, it does point to the build-up of crude oil supplies, which it says could hit another record high, keeping the market oversupplied.
Which is probably good news for motorists this winter.
Vicky Taylor can be reached at 717-262-4754 or 717-881-5373.
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