Remember when gas prices in Oregon were skyrocketing a few weeks ago? They’re coming back down quickly — but are still well above $5 per gallon.
The average price for regular unleaded in Oregon went down five cents Wednesday and is down 25 cents from a week ago to $5.25 per gallon.
It’s $5.26 per gallon in Bend, down 27 cents in the past week.
“After a sharp rise in the national average over the last few weeks, we’ve seen an abrupt, yet expected decline as refinery issues have eased in the West and Great Lakes, overpowering some increases elsewhere. Though at the same time, diesel prices have soared,” GasBuddy head petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan said. “We’ll see a continued sharp drop in gas prices on the West Coast, including areas like Las Vegas and Phoenix, which are supplied by refiners in California, as refinery outages have been addressed.”
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AAA said fears of a global economic recession has led to a major drop in the price of crude oil. Domestic gasoline demand is also down.
“Lower gasoline demand, amid increasing supply and fluctuating oil prices, has contributed to the national average moving downward. If demand continues to drop coupled with a slide in oil prices, drivers could see increases in prices at the pump start to slow and even come down through the week,” AAA said.
But, both averages are still more than 50 cents higher than they were a month ago and nearly $1.50 above the price a year ago.
The national average is down to $3.85 per gallon.
