Area gas prices tiptoe higher as national average slides

Average retail gasoline prices in the Tacoma area have risen 1.1 cents per gallon in the past week, according to a daily survey conducted by the petroleum monitoring service GasBuddy. On Monday, Tacoma-area prices averaged $2.68 a gallon.

That compares with the national average that has fallen 3.4 cents per gallon in the past week to $2.23 per gallon.

Including the change in gas prices in Tacoma during the past week, prices Sunday were 51.3 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 2.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has decreased 15.7 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 53.2 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago.

The least expensive gas in the Tacoma area on Monday, at $2.36 per gallon, could be found at either a Central Tacoma Costco outlet or an Arco station in Southwest Tacoma.

The lowest price Monday in Olympia, $2.46 per gallon, was advertised at an APP outlet on Fones Road.

“Even an uptick in demand for gasoline during the Fourth of July weekend couldn’t slow falling retail gasoline prices,” said Will Speer, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst in a release Monday.

“The average retail gasoline price for the United States has dropped for 26 consecutive days, where it now sits at $2.23 per gallon. ...These falling gas prices have been supported by the price of West Texas Intermediate crude losing 7.3 percent of its value in one week’s time,” he stated.

This story was originally published July 11, 2016 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Area gas prices tiptoe higher as national average slides."