HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – As the holidays near, the price of gas in Virginia is declining.
AAA Tidewater is reporting that gas prices in Hampton Roads have dropped three cents from last week, and that the average price is $2.28 per gallon in the Coastal Virginia region.
This is comparable to the average of $2.31 across the Commonwealth, ranking Virginia as the seventh least expensive state for gas in the country.
At $2.54, today’s national gas price average is two cents less than one week ago, but is 40 cents more than a year ago at this time.
“Nearly 1.3 million Virginians will travel more than 50 miles away from their home by car this holiday. Many will be thankful to see gas prices trending cheaper in cities across the country,” said Georjeane Blumling, spokesperson for AAA Tidewater Virginia.
Even though Virginian’s may be hitting the roads for the holidays in record numbers, gas prices have risen substantially since last year.
Unsteady fluctuation of gas prices because of hurricanes this fall along the coastal U.S. also did not help keep pricing low.
After recent growth in the U.S. active oil rig count, last week’s count remained unchanged at 738, said AAA Tidewater.
EIA’s latest report showed that crude inputs into refineries, for production of products like gasoline, grew by 250,000 b/d on the week to land at 16.9 million b/d.
This news may give market observers hope that oil prices may push even higher ahead of OPEC’s meeting on November 30 in Vienna, Austria.
At the upcoming meeting, OPEC and non-OPEC member countries that are a part of the production reduction agreement to curtail supply may decide to extend the agreement beyond its current expiration date at the end of March 2018
