MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Washington gas prices fall to lowest summer levels

Aug 12, 2019, 5:07 PM

washington gas prices, gas tax...

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Washington gas prices have dipped to some of the lowest levels we’ve seen all summer, amid a national downward trend. Average gas prices across Washington have dropped five cents over the last month. Some stations in Lynnwood have even gone below $3 dollars a gallon.

“A couple of stations there are at $2.89 a gallon, even as low as $2.73 in Marysville, so that is far below the average in Seattle which stands at $3.38,” Gas Buddy petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan told KIRO Radio.

DeHaan says you can thank the falling price of oil.

“Prices have been falling the last couple of weeks because the price of oil has dropped to its lowest level in the last few months at $51 a barrel on concerns that President Trump is escalating the trade war between the U.S. and China, and that could slow and hurt oil demand as well as the economy,” DeHaan said.

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Washington gas prices should drop a little over the next week, at least. After that they could plateau or even go up slightly if OPEC decides to cut oil supplies.

“Typically they peak in early summer and decline for a good portion of the rest of the summer, and that is a trend that usually continues into the autumn and winter. Prices usually begin rising in March through April or May, and that is kind of the yearly high. So I think that is now behind us,” he said. “Once we get out of summer driving season we’ll continue to see prices go down as we switch back to cheaper winter gasoline and as we see seasonal weakness in gasoline demand.”

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DeHaan says the trade war with China may actually be bringing gas prices down because higher prices due to the trade war are causing American consumers to consume less overall — including gas — which is increasing the supply and decreasing prices.

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Washington gas prices fall to lowest summer levels