West Central KY Gas Prices Increase Slightly

West Central Kentucky gas prices have gone up slightly to $2.127 a gallon, according to AAA East Central’s Fuel Gauge report. The national average is $2.199.

Average price during the week of September 7, 2015:

$ 2.204

The following is a list of the average price of unleaded self-serve gasoline in various areas: 

$2.092

Bowling Green

$2.001

Elizabethtown

$2.360 Louisville

$2.095

Owensboro

$2.070

Paducah

On the National Front

The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline has dropped six consecutive days to $2.20 per gallon. Gas prices started turning lower heading into the Labor Day weekend, which marks the unofficial end to the summer driving season.

Prices rose in the second half of August due to increasing crude oil prices and uncertainty regarding Hurricane Hermine's impact on Gulf Coast refineries. When it became clear that the storm would not impact production, prices dropped quickly during the second half of last week and through the weekend. While the possibility of future storms over the remaining months of hurricane season could send prices temporarily higher, the seasonal effects of lower demand – with the busy summer driving season in the rear view – combined with the changeover to cheaper-to-produce winter blend gasoline likely mean prices will move lower over the next several months.

After jumping more than 20 percent during the first half of August, the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil has dropped 10 percent over the past several weeks. The forces driving the market continue to be the strength of the U.S. dollar relative to other global currencies and the potential for OPEC and non-OPEC members to agree to a freeze in oil production when countries meet in Algiers later this month. At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, WTI was up $1.28 to settle at $44.44 per barrel.