Gas prices continue to plummet in west central Kentucky, and are now an average 13 cents lower this week than last — down to $3.01 per gallon.
That’s according to the AAA East Central Gas Price Report, released to the public Tuesday.
During this exact time last year, prices sat at $2.96/gallon, meaning trends could be headed in that direction.
In Bowling Green it’s $3.07, in Elizabethtown it’s $2.85, in Louisville it’s $3.45, in Owensboro it’s $2.73, and in Paducah it’s $2.95.
The nationwide average right now of $3.38 per gallon is 16 cents lower than last week, 41 cents lower than last month, and just three cents more than a year ago.
AAA officials credited this week’s nationwide plunge partly comes from results observed in Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting, which saw the collective group of 23 oil-producing nations remains steadfast in output cuts of 2 million barrels per day.
That’s 2% of the world’s daily demand, and the purpose of the move was to “boost the global price” of oil, which has fallen on fears of demand weakness — specifically in China.
Last Friday, West Texas Intermediate had fallen $1.24 per share at $79.98, with a weaker dollar contributing to this flattening. Domestic commercial crude stocks fell by 12.6 million barrels, and this supply is 14 million barrels lower than the end of November 2021.
AAA offered that increasing supply and steady gasoline demand have contributed to pushing lower pump prices.