GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) – Greensboro – and really all of North Carolina – is bucking a national trend this week with a significant drop in gasoline prices that has led to sub-$3-a-gallon pumps at some outlets and forecasts of an even brighter future.
That’s a lot to digest in one sentence, but look at it in the black-and-white harshness of numbers: The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Greensboro is $3.23, or about 7.5 cents lower than last week, GasBuddy reports. AAA’s survey put that at $3.261, about 6.5 cents lower than last week.
Across North Carolina, the average prices declined by 4.9 cents to $3.24 (GasBuddy) or $3.256 (AAA), and nationally they rose by 0.4 cents, to $3.51, GasBuddy found. AAA rated that at $3.535, which was down by about 0.2 of a cent from its prior week.
And diesel fuel, which had soared during the inflation-induced trends of 2022, continued to plummet, dropping below the $4 mark to $3.97, after another 4-cent decline, GasBuddy reported. AAA has it at $4.007.
"With oil prices bouncing back over $70 per barrel after reaching as low as $66 in early May, we've seen gasoline prices move higher in some states, while others have continued to decline,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in his weekly release. “The national average has seen little change as a result, but overall, gasoline prices continue to see significant relief from year-ago levels."
GasBuddy reports that Greensboro’s average price is 30.5 cents lower than a month ago and 99 cents lower than on May 15, 2022. AAA shows a 28.3-cent improvement from last month and 98.3 cents from last year.
And the lowest of the low is at better than $3 per gallon, with GasBuddy citing $2.93 at the Pantry Shop in Thomasville, and you can find $2.96 at the Pantry Shop in High Point. Sheetz in Trinity and Kyleco in Asheboro also are below $3.
- Pantry Shop — 500 National Highway, Thomasville — $2.93
- Pantry Shop — 3000 W. English Road, High Point — $2.96
- Sheetz — 5905 Finch Farm Road, Trinity — $2.99
- Kyleco — 408 E. Salisbury Street, Asheboro — $2.99
The statewide best price reported by GasBuddy was $2.89 at the Shell in Grandy, and you can get $2.92 at the Murphy Express or the Circle K in Shallotte. The highest price is $3.97.
By comparison, Winston-Salem’s average is $3.24, down 5.7 cents, and Durham is among the highest average, at $3.47, although down 4.9 cents.
Even lower to come?
The best news might be that DeHaan sees a lot of positives in the trends.
"We're likely to soon see gasoline prices slip to their largest year-on-year deficit since COVID hit, when prices fell over $1 per gallon from 2019,” he said, “so the relief at the pump has been significant, and even though the gas price decline hit pause last week, it's looking more likely that barring a major hurricane or series of refinery outages, the national average may not end up hitting the $4 per gallon mark – something that will make most motorists very happy.
“For those in Arizona that have seen gas prices spike during the spring, significant relief is starting and should even accelerate over the weeks ahead."
Historical prices
If you compare GasBuddy’s data trends against a report from about seven weeks ago and during the past decade, you find similar numbers year to year. The bottom line is that current prices are about 15 cents a gallon below where they were on this date in 2013.
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