The average price of a gallon of gasoline in Denver fell 9.1 0cents in the last week but was still four cents higher than the national average.
On Sunday, the average cost of a gallon of gasoline in Denver was $3.16 a gallon, compared to the national average of $3.12, according to .
However, in Denver, the cost was 16.4 cents a gallon lower than on the same day a year ago, and 36.4 cents a gallon lower than a month ago.
At the beginning of the summer, analysts predicted that the cost of a gallon of gasoline in Denver would remain below the national average for the summer season.
However, problems at refineries in Texas and Wyoming bumped the cost up in Denver where prices for several months have been costlier than the national average.
Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, noted in a statement that the national average has decreased 22.9 cents a gallon during the last month and stands 23.1 cents a gallon lower than a year ago.
“The national average again saw a hefty decline over the last week, and we now stand a mere dime away from seeing prices nationally average under $3 a gallon,” said DeHaan. The national average now stands at its lowest point since Jan. 18, 2011, and by the end of this week, it could stand at its lowest since late 2010.”
DeHaan said that on a daily basis Americans are spending more than $100 million less on gasoline purchases than a year ago.
This savings, he said, will be injected back into the economy in other forms which should help the economic recovery.
“I still do believe that the national average will break the $3 a gallon mark by around Election Day,” he said.
He said the drop in price has to do with the “price war between OPEC members and jitters about the health of the global economy.”
GasBuddy operates and more than 250 similar websites that track gasoline prices at more than 140,000 gasoline stations in the U.S. and Canada.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz
