Georgia gas prices drop 2 cents a gallon

Media release: The national average price of a gallon of regular retail gasoline remained relatively stable last week for the first time in almost six weeks. Prices increased for 39 consecutive days, before stabilizing last week. Lackluster demand numbers are starting to weigh-in the market after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut its global oil demand outlook.

However, oil prices increased slightly at the end of last week after the U.S. Labor Department reported payrolls increased by 227,000 during the month of February, more than the initial forecast of 210,000. A barrel of oil closed Friday at $107.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange—70 cents more than the week prior.

"We have equal bullish and bearish pressures weighing on the market at this time from lagging demand numbers to U.S. job growth," said Angie LaPlant, director, AAA Public Relations, The Auto Club Group. "Consumers may get a brief break at the pump as gas prices are not expected to increase much, if at all, this week."

The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.79, an 3-cent increase from last week. Florida's average of $3.79 and Tennessee's average of $3.59 remained stable from last week, respectively. Georgia's average of $3.68 decreased 2 cents from last week. Visit AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report to find national, state, and local metro market retail gasoline prices.

CURRENT AND PAST PRICE AVERAGES

Regular Unleaded Gasoline

                        Current              Week Ago         Month Ago        Year Ago

National:           $3.792              $3.764              $3.497              $3.554

Florida:             $3.790              $3.796              $3.621              $3.583

Georgia:           $3.689              $3.701              $3.511              $3.482

Tennessee:       $3.592             $3.592              $3.425              $3.424