No real change in Georgia's gas price last week; average of $3.19 still 38 cents more than a year ago

 

Media release: The price of crude oil advanced last week to settle Friday at $100.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange—$4.19 more than the week prior. Positive economic news and concerns over Iran's oil shipments caused oil prices to increase. The Labor Department reported a jump in payrolls of 120,000 as the U.S. unemployment rate fell to a two-year low of 8.6 percent. Consumer confidence also rose for the month of November to 65.8 from 64.1, according to a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan report.

Concerns that Iran's shipments of oil could be threatened after the European Union tightened sanctions on the OPEC country helped drive oil prices to $100 a barrel. Iran pumped 3.6 million barrels of oil a day last month and is one of the largest oil producing countries in the world.

"Although oil prices reached $100 a barrel, retail gasoline prices continue to fall," said Jessica Brady, AAA spokesperson, The Auto Club Group. "While it's no surprise oil prices rose on the positive economic news, it does not mean we will see a huge surge in gasoline consumption as a result. U.S. stockpiles of oil increased almost 4 million barrels during the last week of November; a sign demand is still relatively weak. Gas prices may stabilize this week as we see whether or not oil prices continue to rise beyond $100 a barrel or if prices retreat."

The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline decreased 3 cents from last week for an average of $3.27 per gallon. Florida's average price of $3.28 decreased 4 cents from last week and Georgia's average of $3.19 remained unchanged. Tennessee's average price of $3.08 also decreased 3 cents from last week, respectively.  

CURRENT AND PAST PRICE AVERAGES

Regular Unleaded Gasoline

                                    Current           Week Ago      Month Ago     Year Ago     

National:                   $3.277        $3.300                $3.420            $2.922

  Florida:                      $3.287          $3.322                 $3.400             $2.934

  Georgia:                     $3.191          $3.196               $3.337             $2.811

Tennessee:               $3.087          $3.119             $3.246              $2.786