by Steve Wilson

 

Despite a slight uptick in the past day, gas prices in Tennessee are still lower than they were a month ago.

According to data from AAA, the average price per gallon was $3.193 per gallon, up slightly from the day before, which was $3.186. That’s still 7.42% cheaper than the average price in the Volunteer State was a month earlier at $3.449 per gallon.

Gas prices in Tennessee are 9.39% more per gallon than the same time last year ($2.893 per gallon).

The national average is $3.765 per gallon and Tennessee ranks fifth lowest, behind Mississippi ($3.068), Texas ($3.106), Louisiana ($3.111) and Georgia ($3.163).

The cheapest gas in Tennessee is in the Clarksville-Hopkinsville metro area in the north-central part of the state at $3.12 per gallon, while the most expensive is Jackson in west-central Tennessee at $3.274 per gallon. Memphis is just a few ticks less at $3.272.

One reason for the lack of a big price increase in the Volunteer State is the path of Hurricane Ian, which will make landfall in southwest Florida rather than the western Gulf, where much of the nation’s offshore crude production and oil refineries are located.

Patrick De Haan, GasBuddy analyst, said on Twitter average gas prices were holding at the same level as a week ago in Florida because “gasoline production at refineries in the Gulf isn’t being impacted by Hurricane Ian.”

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Steve Wilson has been an award-winning writer and editor for nearly 20 years at newspapers in Georgia, Florida and Mississippi and is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and University of Alabama graduate. Wilson is a regional editor for The Center Square.