A New Year And Gas Prices Still Falling

Average retail gasoline prices in Yakima have fallen 1.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.33/g yesterday, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 91 gas outlets in Yakima. This compares with the national average that has fallen 0.5 cents per gallon in the last week to $1.99/g, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

Areas nearby Yakima and their current gas price climate:

Tacoma- $2.50/g, up 1.6 cents per gallon from last week's $2.48/g.

Seattle- $2.54/g, up 0.9 cents per gallon from last week's $2.53/g.

Washington- $2.46/g, up 0.6 cents per gallon from last week's $2.45/g.

Including the change in gas prices in Yakima during the past week, prices yesterday were 7.1 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 0.8 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 5.0 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 19.9 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.

"Talk about starting the New Year off right," said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst. "The national average at $1.99 is a great way to begin 2016, and over twenty cents lower than where we started 2015. The good news is that we could see even more price drops before the seasonal lift that will likely begin as we push towards Spring. For any Americans that made resolutions to try and spend less at the pump this year, I think they will be in good shape to achieve that. The fundamentals of oil remain weak which will contribute to low oil prices for some time, while gasoline demand will likely move lower now with the holidays behind us, putting downward pressure on gasoline prices," DeHaan said.