Austin gasoline prices have dropped 4 cents in the past week, mirroring a national trend that is seeing prices go down as concerns about the omicron variant of COVID-19 have lessened demand for fuel.

The average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline was $2.86 on Monday, down from $2.90 last week, according to fuel industry website GasBuddy.com, which conducts a daily survey of 830 gas stations in Austin. The current average price is 13 cents lower than Austin's average four weeks ago, when motorists were paying $2.99 per gallon, according to GasBuddy. The current average price of $2.86 is still $1.06 per gallon higher than the same week last year, when Austinites were paying an average of $1.80 per gallon.

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The national average price is currently $3.34 per gallon, down 5 cents in the past week, according to GasBuddy.

The recent dip in gas prices is due to lower oil prices, which are dropping as demand is decreasing, analysts say.

"This is largely due to continued anxiety over the omicron variant and because some countries have begun issuing lockdowns, keeping motorists in some countries from consuming as much fuel," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.

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Industry analysts say it’s too soon to tell if fears of a global economic slowdown caused by the omicron variant will push oil prices lower for the long term, but say concerns about tightened gas supply and high demand seem to have abated, which will likely result in pump prices stabilizing in the short term.

"We will see precipitous declines in the next week or two as stations continue to sell through higher priced inventory before slowly lowering their prices," De Haan. "It's not impossible given the conditions that price wars, where stations lower their price significantly, could emerge as stations now have considerable room to lower prices."

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Elsewhere in Texas, San Antonio's average price per gallon on Monday was $2.73, down 5 cents in the past week, while Waco's average price was $2.80 per gallon and College Station motorists are paying an average of $3.02 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Additional material from the Associated Press.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin gas prices down as omicron variant lessens global fuel demand