Gas Price Averages In GA Lower Than They Were A Year Ago

GEORGIA — Motorists in Georgia are seeing big relief at the pump as gas prices fall to an average of about $2.926 for a gallon for regular gas, $0.239 lower than last year at this time.

Nationally, the average price for a gallon of regular gas Thursday was $3.33, down a penny from $3.34 last year, according to the AAA auto club, which tracks gas price changes and provides daily updates.

The Biden administration has been drawing down the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve since spring as part of its strategy to lower gas prices, which were already straining Americans’ budgets when they were driven up further by Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Americans are paying about a buck and a quarter less than they were in June, when the average price for a gallon of gas nationally was about $5.

The price at the pump reflects decreased demand, which drove oil prices lower.

Prices for E85 — an 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline blend used in flexible fuel vehicles — are down even more, to an average of $2.73 a gallon, compared to $3.11 a year ago.

Prices for other fuels remain higher than they were a year ago. Diesel fuel, especially, is painfully expensive, averaging $5 on average, compared with $3.11 a gallon this time last year. In Georgia, diesel costs $4.802 per gallon, which is $1.311 higher than a year ago.

Prices for mid-grade and premium gasoline are also higher than they were a year ago. The national average for mid-grade fuel was about $3.79 a gallon, compared to $3.71 a year ago; premium fuel prices are about 12 cents a gallon higher than they were a year ago, averaging $4.10 a gallon Thursday.

In Georgia, mid-grade costs $3.336 per gallon. It slightly dropped by $0.181 in a year.

Gas prices are still higher than they have been in the past several years. President Joe Biden has criticized energy companies such as Exxon, Mobil and Chevron for record-breaking quarterly profits. Global oil and gas producers’ net income is expected to double this year to an “unprecedented” $4 trillion, according to an International Energy Agency report.

In October, just days before the midterm elections, Biden called on Congress to levy tax penalties against oil companies if they don’t invest some of their profits in lowering prices at the pump.

“It’s time for these companies to stop war profiteering, meet their responsibilities in this country and give the American people a break and still do very well,” he said.

The falling prices give Americans a little more flexibility to fight inflation, but doesn’t necessarily provide much breathing room for the Federal Reserve to hold off on interest rate hikes to tame inflation.

“It’s good for households, and it’s good for affordability,” Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist at the financial analysis firm S&P Global, told The New York Times. “But at the same time the easing up of pricing pressure at the gas pump leaves more money to spend elsewhere, that might give a near-term boost to inflation, which the Fed would have to fight.”