Gas prices over the Independence Day holiday weekend were the third most expensive in history, according to GasBuddy.
The most expensive was four years ago when the national average price was $4.80 a gallon.
The price of oil has fallen from its peak after the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, with prices at the pump following suit after reaching $4.57 a gallon in May.
But Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, says drivers should be cautiously optimistic.
“GasBuddy is now tracking 41 states with average gasoline prices below $4 per gallon, while 37 states are seeing average diesel prices below $5.
“However, continued Ukrainian attacks on Russian refinery infrastructure have forced Russia to shift from fuel exporter to importer, tightening global supplies and putting upward pressure on crack spreads [the pricing difference between a barrel of crude oil and the petroleum products refined from it] explaining why pump prices haven’t fallen as sharply as oil prices might suggest.
“Until the refining supply picture improves, significant further drops at the pump may be limited,” De Haan said in his weekly gas price update.
The average price in the Harrisburg area today is $3.77 a gallon. That’s down 4.8 cents from a week ago and 41.7 cents lower than a month ago, but still 56.7 cents higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy.
The national average today is $3.71 a gallon.
The lowest price in the Harrisburg area today is $3.19 a gallon at Weis Markets, 4300 Linglestown Road, Lower Paxton Township, according to GasBuddy.
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