Gasoline prices in Denver declined four cents a gallon in the past week, averaging $3.73 a gallon on Sunday, according to the website .
Nationwide the average gasoline price per gallon fell 2.8 cents per gallon to $3.70.
The downward trend brought Denver prices close to where they were this time last year. Prices on Sunday were 1.8 cents per gallon higher than the same day in 2011 and are 13.3 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.
The national average decreased 15.1 cents per gallon in the last month and stands 13.7 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said that the prices “put to bed” the old myth that gasoline prices rise ahead of a major holiday.
“Average gasoline prices will likely continue to decline in the days ahead of Memorial Day, but folks will still say come next year that prices went up over the weekend this year,” said DeHaan.
“Most of the time the myth isn’t true,” added DeHaan. “This year will be one of those years (where prices are lower) – unless you’re on the West Coast, prices have been slowly coming down.”
However, in another report, Bankrate, Inc., a publisher and distributor of personal finance content, said 59 percent of Americans have cut spending in 2012 due to high gas prices.
Bankrate said that “nearly six in ten Americans have cut back on non-essential spending since the beginning of 2012 due to high gasoline prices.”
“Despite the fact that oil prices are currently near six-month lows, consumers are still clearly feeling the impact of elevated gas prices in an environment of stagnant wages,” said Greg McBride, ‘s senior financial analyst. “Those most likely to have cut back on spending due to high gas prices are those with lower levels of income and education.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter@HowardPankratz
