Gas Prices Are Falling Fastest in These 10 States

Americans who have been paying record gas prices to fill up their cars may see a much longed-for reprieve in some parts of the country.

The last three months have seen a spike in fuel prices, hitting a national record high of $5.02 per gallon on June 14, posing a political problem for President Joe Biden's administration.

But since that high, the national average has started to fall, dipping to around $4.72 on Friday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), and there is some optimism that prices could go down even further.

Biden has blamed Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine for the sky-high prices and it is certainly a factor with the Biden administration saying the war has raised gas prices by more than $1.70 per gallon.

Although the U.S. does not import much oil from Russia, oil is traded on the global market and changes affect prices all over the world. But the price of gas is also linked to the cost of crude oil, from which it's refined. It is estimated that every $10 increase in the cost of a barrel of crude adds almost 25 cents to each gallon of gas.

This means that American drivers' wallets have benefited from the effect of the benchmark price of crude oil falling to about $104 a barrel on Thursday from nearly $115 last week. This is considerably down on the 13-year high of close $140 a barrel that was briefly reached in March.

Another factor adding to lower prices is lower demand, which the AAA said took the pressure off pump prices, but this lull could end with the start of the summer driving season. "July is typically the heaviest month for demand as more Americans hit the road, so this trend of easing prices could be short-lived," said AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross in a statement on Tuesday.

Patrick de Haan, head of petroleum analysis at Gas Buddy, tweeted that as long as oil prices stay low, the price for a gallon of gas could decrease by up to 2 cents per gallon every few days and that within a month, they could drop to a potential low of $4 to $4.25.

However, some analysts have predicted that in the long term, prices will go up again. University of Houston economist Ed Hirs forecasted the national average could hit $6 a gallon by Labor Day.

Illinois and Texas have the biggest price drops

According to AAA figures for Friday, July 8, Illinois and Texas have had the biggest drops in price per gallon over the previous seven days with gas dipping by around 17 cents in each state where a gallon now costs $5.19 and $4.29 respectively.

The next biggest drops were seen in Delaware (14.9 cents to $4.60), Ohio (14.6 cents to $4.64), Florida (14.3 cents to $4.46) and Virginia (14 cents to $4.51).

There were four states whose gas prices dropped by 13 cents or more a gallon over the last week. These were Indiana (13.7 cents to $4.78) Alabama (13.5 cents to $4.31) Arizona (13.4 cents to $5.07) and Mississippi (13.1 cents to $4.23).

California has the most expensive gas in the country, although its average price has dropped by 12.5 cents over the last seven days to $6.14. Meanwhile, as of Friday, the cheapest gas could be found in South Carolina and Mississippi ($4.23).