Gas prices up, but may see summer decline | The Olympian

Gas continues its slow climb to summer prices, but Brexit may prove a boon.

Average retail gasoline prices in the Tacoma area have risen 1 cent per gallon over the past week, and the average Monday stood at $2.65 per gallon, according to the price monitoring service GasBuddy.

Meanwhile, the national average has fallen 2.4 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.31 per gallon.

Including the change in gas prices in Tacoma during the past week, prices are 55.5 cents per gallon lower than this time a year ago and are 5.1 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has decreased 1.3 cents per gallon during the last month and is 47.2 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago, GasBuddy stated in its latest weekly roundup.

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Tacoma equaled the state average of $2.65 per gallon, a figure up by 0.4 cents per gallon from last week’s figure.

The lowest price available on Monday could be found at a Milton 76 station, at $2.29 per gallon, according to tacomagasprices.com. In Olympia, the lowest price Monday was $2.46 a gallon at APP station on Fones Road, according to washingtongasprices.com.

“The national average price of gasoline has now slipped nearly 10 cents lower than the 2016 peak, to date, of $2.39 per gallon, bringing greater likelihood that prices for the Fourth of July weekend will be even lower than where they now stand,” said Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.

“And if there was any doubt about the direction of retail gasoline, Brexit’s impact — strengthening the U.S. dollar, weakening European currencies and weakening global crude oil prices — is expected to add even more downward pressure to summer gas prices.”