Fuel price decline continues in South Sound

Average retail gasoline prices in Tacoma fell 6.0 cents per gallon in the past week, according to gasbuddy.com.

Tacoma’s average price Monday was $2.45, according to tacomagasprices.com, with the lowest price leaders coming in at less than $2.00. The Tacoma Costco at 37th and Steele streets, Chevron on Bridgeport Way Southwest and 108th Street Southwest, Mobil also on Bridgeport Way and the Shell station on Pacific Highway Southwest near Cline Road were all at $1.99 a gallon for regular gas, Monday, according to tacomagasprices.com.

In Olympia, the lowest price Monday was the APP station at $2.06 a gallon, according to washingtongasprices.com.

“The first week of January seems to be on par with prior years,” said Jeff Pelton, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst, in a news release. “History has shown that 12 of the past 16 Januarys have yielded the worst demand of the year. If Wednesday’s EIA report is indicative of things to come in the next 3 weeks, this January may prove to be no different. The tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran traditionally would cause a rise in oil prices; times have changed and the incentive now is for the Saudis to pump away and keep Iran’s coffers as empty as they can. Add to the mix the turmoil in the Chinese financial markets, which has roiled the U.S. stock market and you should get gas prices that will decline through the month,” he said.

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Fuel price decline continues in South Sound."