The national average for a gallon of gas fell last week despite a tumultuous period for oil prices after Hamas launched an attack on Israel.
A gallon of regular unleaded fell about 12 cents to $3.628 on Friday, according to AAA, a nonprofit federation of motor clubs that tracks fuel costs. The decline comes even as oil rose by about $5 to around $90 per barrel last week. The price of crude, which is refined into gasoline, makes up more than half the price of a gallon of fuel.
That price increase, however, is far from the roughly $40 per barrel temporary spike following last year’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia, AAA says. The critical difference is that Russia is a significant oil producer, while Israel and the Palestinian territories are not, it said.
“As long as this war does not spread to include more countries in the region, the effect on the oil market will remain muted,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement.
Why are gas prices going down?
At a statewide average of $5.669 for a gallon of unleaded gasoline, Californians may not feel much relief at the pump. But prices are lower, down about 21 cents from a week earlier, to $5.878, AAA says.
Pump prices are dropping in the Golden State, as they are in the rest of the country, because of lower demand from drivers and less expensive blends of winter gasoline coming into the market. California actually introduced its winter blend earlier than usual year, and it contains a larger amount of a cheaper ingredient…
