Tennessee motorists have seen slight relief at the pump over the past week, matching national averages.
The average price of a gallon of gas in Tennessee was $4.39 Tuesday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).
That number is down from $4.48 last Tuesday, and $4.50 one month ago.
It is little consolation for Tennesseans, though, who have seen gas prices rise $1.53 cents per gallon on average over the past year.
The highest average price for gas ever recorded was on June 12, when a gallon cost $4.64 statewide.
Prices in the city of Jackson were $4.48 Tuesday, eight cents higher than the state’s average.
Memphis and Knoxville had the highest average gas prices, at $4.49.
The lowest prices were in the Cleveland area, at about $4.14 per gallon.
Average gas prices nationally have dropped about nine cents per gallon over the past week.
Asked whether this was the beginning of the end of skyrocketing prices at the pump, AAA could not say for certain.
“It’s extremely difficult to predict what gas prices will do in the longer term (even short term) given the high amount of volatility that exists in the market right now,” AAA spokeswoman Megan Cooper told The Tennessee Star. This week marks the third week of declines for the Tennessee state gas price average.
“We typically do historically see pretty high demand levels for gasoline throughout the month of July. Higher demand usually indicates that we will see higher prices at the pump, however there are other factors, like the price of crude oil, that influence our gas prices,” she said. “Today oil prices were actually trading below $100/barrel, but they still remain very volatile.”
She also said to beware of higher prices during hurricane season, which began on June 1, and runs through the end of November.
“This doesn’t automatically bring with it implications for our gas prices, but a hurricane (or even the threat of a hurricane) can definitely have an impact on our gas prices locally,” she said. “Especially if that hurricane is threatening the Gulf Coast.”
Days ago, President Joe Biden blamed gas stations for charging too much at the pump.
But gas stations are mostly locally-owned, and make only pennies of profit selling the gasoline.
For his comments, Biden was raked over the coals.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].Â
