Great summer to hit the road? Gas prices drop again

Average retail gas prices in the Bradenton-Sarasota area have fallen 1.5 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.25 a gallon — despite the Memorial Day holiday traffic.

Nationwide, the average has fallen 0.6 cent per gallon in the last week to $2.36 a gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.

“With the summer driving season officially started, gasoline prices stand just a few cents higher than where they started last summer, an impressive feat,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. “Surprisingly, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Maine, Missouri and Iowa just witnessed the cheapest Memorial Day at the pump since 2005, a major feat.”

Areas near Manatee-Sarasota and their current gas price climate:

Cape Coral: $2.28 a gallon, down 1.4 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.29 a gallon.

Florida: $2.30 a gallon, down 0.3 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.30 a gallon.

Tampa: $2.22 a gallon, down 0.6 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.22 a gallon.

“With the national average now seeing minor decline and roughly at the same point it was a week ago, summer gas prices are shaping up to be quite a bit lower than previous expectations and similar to what we saw last summer,” DeHaan said. “This sets up a great summer season to hit the road, pointing to rising U.S. oil production in the midst of oil production cuts from OPEC for the stable prices.”

This story was originally published May 30, 2017 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Great summer to hit the road? Gas prices drop again."