TAMPA - During peak holiday travel periods, gasoline prices inch upward.
But analysts at AAA Auto Club South say that may not be the case
Current crude market conditions have some analysts expecting a decline in crude oil even as we approach Thanksgiving and a spike in demand for fuel. The auto group predicts an estimated 33 million will hit the highways.
"Things aren’t looking good (for oil futures) because we’ve been unable to maintain momentum to the upside,” according to Michael Fitzpatrick, vice president of energy with MF Global in New York. “There’s a risk that we could test $60. That’s not likely, but I’m sure we’ll test $75 next week.”
NYMEX crude oil slumped at the end of the week as the dollar strengthened against the euro, reducing the appeal of commodities to investors. Crude oil closed Friday at $76.72 per barrel just 37 cents above last week’s closing.
“What might be bad news for oil brokers is often good news for consumers,” said Gregg Laskoski of AAA Auto Club South. “Aside from any significant decline in the dollar, there’s little on the horizon that is likely to push crude prices higher now. With ample crude and gasoline stocks, this may be a holiday where retail fuel prices remain flat or decline, and that would extend a trend of recent years.”
"In five of the last seven years, the national average price of gasoline has declined during Thanksgiving week and one week it remained unchanged," said Laskoski. “Only once in the last seven years have prices increased and that was 2006 when the national average price of unleaded gasoline increased by 3 cents per gallon during Thanksgiving week.”
As of today, the national average price of unleaded regular gasoline has increased by 6/10ths of a cent in the past week to $2.64 per gallon; Florida’s average price has increased by 8/10ths of a penny and Georgia and Tennessee’s average prices have remained unchanged for the past week at $2.50 and $2.49 per gallon, respectively. Compare prices in the south.
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Thanksgiving Extras
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Regular Unleaded
| | Current | Week Ago | Month Ago | Year Ago |
|
| National | $2.641 | $2.635 | $2.636 | $1.953 |
|
| Florida | $2.679 | $2.687 | $2.663 | $2.005 |
|
| Georgia | $2.500 | $2.506 | $2.510 | $1.855 |
|
| Tennessee | $2.494 | $2.496 | $2.491 | $1.819 |
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