Washington state could soon see 40-cent dip in gas prices

Gas prices in Washington state have shot up in recent months, increasing by over 20 cents a gallon between January and May. Thankfully, we could soon see some relief in the coming weeks, in the form of decreases that could get as high as 40-cents.

Why state’s gas prices oeaked in April, May
Pay-per-mile tax ends its testing phase

“Certainly much of Washington state could see another decline of anywhere from 15 to as much as 40 cents per gallon at some stations,” GasBuddy Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan told KIRO Radio.

DeHaan notes that Eastern Washington could see prices dip back below $3 a gallon, while the Seattle area could end up somewhere in the “low $3 range.”

As for the reason, that’s largely thanks to a drop of nearly $13 a barrel for the price of oil, and previously shut down refineries coming back online.

“A spat of refining kinks earlier this spring led to a tightness in supply that has since been alleviated,” said DeHaan. “Refineries have gotten back online, boosted production — that’s how prices come down.”

Those refinery outages in California led to a spike in gas prices across Washington back in April, that DeHaan labeled “bigger than we’ve seen in recent memory.”

Gas prices across the state

The western reaches of the state continue to boast the highest average gas prices in the state, led by Jefferson County at $3.64 a gallon, and followed by Pacific County ($3.63), and King County ($3.53).

Eastern Washington prices typically trend lower across the region, largely due to its access to less expensive gas from the Rocky Mountains. That being so, the cheapest place to buy gas in the state sits on its eastern border in Pend Oreille County, where gas prices average $3.01 a gallon.

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest