Worcester gas prices continue to fall, 'price wars' could emerge
WORCESTER — Gas prices in the city fell 3 cents in the past week, averaging $3.39 per gallon for regular unleaded Monday.
Gas prices in the city are 1.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, and $1.32 per gallon higher than a year ago.
Gas at the cheapest station in Worcester was priced $2.95 per gallon Monday, while the most expensive was $3.63 per gallon, a difference of 68 cents, according to GasBuddy.
In Massachusetts, the average gas price was down 2 cents from last week's $3.41 per gallon.
The lowest price in the state was $2.95, while the highest was $4.39, a difference of $1.44 per gallon.
Nationally, the average price of gasoline has fallen 5.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.34 per gallon Monday.
The national average is down 6.9 cents from a month ago and stands $1.19 per gallon higher than a year ago.
"The downturn in average gas prices continued to gain momentum last week as oil prices remained at a hefty discount. 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.
De Haan added: "While the Great Lakes region, the fastest to see prices respond to market fluctuations, is seeing hefty monthly declines approaching 30 cents per gallon, much of the rest of the country is lagging behind."
"But, 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 said. "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."
In Boston, the average gas price Monday went down 2.3 cents to $3.41 per gallon from last week's $3.43.
Providence's average price remained unchanged from last week's $3.39, averaging $3.40 per gallon.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester gas prices continue to fall, 'price wars' could emerge
