AAA says gas prices should continue to dip if supply stays high and demand remains low

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - The average price per gallon of gas in West Virginia is sitting just above four dollars a gallon, however across state lines in Virginia the average is $3.79 gallon. Fuel prices have dropped nationally for nearly two months.

“So we’ve seen that demand drop off when those prices began to rise and we haven’t seen it come back up to the point that it would affect those prices,” said Lori Weaver Hawkins, with AAA Bluegrass.

Lower demand doesn’t always translate to lower prices, events like hurricanes and students going back to school has an impact on prices. Weaver-Hawkins says people should pay attention to diesel prices as well. It’s a good indicator of whether the prices of goods are going down too.

“That’s a driver of the economy even more so than gasoline for obvious reasons with the infrastructure and bringing goods to various retailers and restaurants etc. That has also been dropping just not quite as rapidly,” said Weaver-Hawkins.

Residents in our region say they’re hoping both diesel and regular gas stay on the downward track so they can resume their normal driving habits. Some have avoided topping off their tanks.

“That’s the way it’s been since gas prices began going up,” said Bluefield, West Virginia resident Chris Jones.

“When gas was high, I was putting 50 dollars a week in it and that would get me through the week. When it gets back down I put 45 and that gets me through the week,” said Steve Kinser.