SC gas prices continue to fall, state average below $4

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - For a fifth straight week drivers in South Carolina are seeing lower prices at the gas pumps.

GasBuddy’s survey of more than 3,000 gas stations in the Palmetto State showed a decrease of 14.6 cents per gallon, bringing the state’s average down to $3.99. That’s 51.8 cents less than a month ago and $1.13 higher than one year ago.

The cheapest station in the state as of Monday morning posted a price of $3.53 while the highest was $4.79, a difference of $1.26 per gallon.

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The cheapest gas in the Tri-County as of Monday morning was at a station in Summerville selling gas for $3.77 per gallon.

The national average also fell for the fifth week in a row, dropping 15.8 cents to an average of $4.51 per gallon, 47.9 cents less than a month ago and $1.35 higher than one year ago.

GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan says falling gas prices will likely continue into next week and possibly beyond.

“We’ve seen the national average price of gasoline decline for a fifth straight week, with the pace of recent declines accelerating to some of the most significant we’ve seen in years. This trend is likely to reach a sixth straight week, with prices likely to fall again this week. Barring major hurricanes, outages or unexpected disruptions, I forecast the national average to fall to $3.99/gal by mid-August,” De Haan said. “So far, we’ve seen the national average drop for 34 straight days, with over 25,000 stations now back at $3.99 per gallon or less, and thousands more stations will join this week. In addition, we will see several states fall back under an average of $4, the majority being in the south, but that could spread to more states in the weeks ahead.”