Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Gas prices in Kentucky, which had been on a steady rise since late December, has now seen a decline over the past week, according to GasBuddy.com, a crowd-sourced website and mobile app that tracks gas prices nationwide.

After reaching a 15-month low in which the statewide average price at the pump dipped to around $2.79 per gallon for regular unleaded gas on Christmas Day, gas rose steadily over the next month reaching $3.22.  The roller coaster ride continues, as we now have our first weekly decline of 2023, with the price as of Monday afternoon standing at $3.15.  That is five cents cheaper than last week, but 21 cents above a month ago and two cents more than at this time last year.

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum research at GasBuddy, says this is primarily due to a sharp and sudden drop in the price of oil.

“While the decline in both gasoline and diesel prices is terrific, it’s not unusual to see prices falling in February, which tends to be the month with some of the lowest gasoline prices of the year thanks to seasonally weak demand. For diesel, we’re likely to see more declines, and potentially much more significant ones in the weeks ahead as imports of distillate have accelerated, leading to a sell-off. And, with warmer weather ahead, demand may struggle as well.”

He noted that Both West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude oil saw prices drop $5 per barrel in Monday trading, compared to a week ago.  Some of the weakness has been thanks to a stronger U.S. dollar after last week’s solid jobs report, making crude oil more expensive to those trading in other currencies, weakening demand.  In addition, last week’s data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, or EIA, showed builds in oil, gasoline, and distillate inventories, adding to the weakness.

De Haan says it’s unknown how long the decline will last, given anticipated activity at the nation’s refineries.  “Especially for gasoline, high levels of coming maintenance and the eventual transition to summer gasoline could lead today’s declines to reverse down the road.  For now, motorists should enjoy the decline, but be wary as we’re likely to eventually see increases again down the road.”