Gas Prices In Yakima Continue To Fall

Average retail gasoline prices in Yakima have fallen 9.9 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.29 per gallon Sunday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 91 gas outlets in Yakima. The national average, meantime, has fallen 5.4 cents per gallon in the past week to $2.12 per gallon, according to gasoline-price website.

Including the change in gas prices in Yakima during the past week, prices Sunday were 100.2 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 57.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 48.6 cents per gallon during the past month and stands at 118.7 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

“All in all, it wasn't a bad week for motorists filling their tanks," said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy. "Since last week, some 12,000 stations dropped their price under $2 a gallon, with 45.1 percent of all gas stations (nearly 61,000) now selling under the $2-a-gallon mark. The national average currently stands at its lowest since May 9, 2009, a date that saw 8.9 percent unemployment and Phil Jackson coaching the Los Angeles Lakers toward the NBA title.

“This time around," DeHaan said, "the drop in gasoline is far more joyous and isn't overshadowed by a polar plunge in the economy. And it doesn't stop there. Overnight, the average price for diesel fuel in the U.S. dropped under $3 a gallon for the first time since Oct. 2, 2010, and will shed yet another 25-50 cents per gallon before reaching a bottom.

"Meanwhile, various domestic mid-continent crudes have dropped to the $30 a barrel range, or in the 'danger zone' -- territory where oil companies are starting to cut back on operations -- a zone that could ultimately result in a slingshot back in prices down the road," DeHaan noted.