MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A lot of people across Memphis are happy as gas prices continue to fall.
According to GasBuddy, on average the price for a gallon of gas has dropped 40 cents in Tennessee, and just under seven cents over the past week.
According to AAA, the Mid-South is seeing some of the lowest prices in the country. The average is $2.79 a gallon in Tennessee and Mississippi and $2.74 in Arkansas.
“The main thing is that imbalance between supply and demand,” said Larry Kessler, Research Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville.
In Memphis the average cost of a gallon of gas is $2.89, but our gas price indicator shows some stations offering gas as low as $2.39. That's more than $2.00 less than the highest average this summer.
Experts say the reason is the season, since more people travel during the warmer months, especially this year.
“So many more people who didn’t travel the summer before due to the pandemic, so a lot more people were traveling for recreation, businesses were starting to travel again,” said Kessler.
On the opposite side, AAA says shorter days and colder weather have people driving less.
“People aren’t traveling as much as they were in the summer, so that’s led to a slight reduction in the price. And then also some of the, at least pandemic-related supply chain issues, they’ve been easing over time,” said Kessler.
AAA predicts prices will continue to drop over the next week, but economists said the final price at the pump this holiday season might be harder to predict.
“I think all the oil prices in general, they’re based on world market prices, so if at some point things resolve between Russia and Ukraine, I think that will lead to a reduction in energy prices as well,” said Kessler, “It’s hard to forecast where prices are going for sure.”
Check out local gas prices using our online tracker.