PEORIA, Ill. – The price at the gas pump in Peoria continues to fall as the new year approaches.
GasBuddy reports the average price of a gallon of unleaded on Monday is $2.80/g, down 5.3 cents in the past week. The average is close to 27.9 cents lower than a month ago and 35.7 cents lower than one year ago.
AAA is reporting a slightly higher average in the Peoria-Pekin metro area for Monday at $2.83/g, which is 4.0 cents lower than last week.
The cheapest price reported on Sunday by GasBuddy was $2.56/g, while the highest was $3.29/g.
Analysts say refineries producing at seasonally high outputs and gasoline inventories building up are keeping prices down.
“Oil prices have remained relatively low even amid the U.S. blockade on Venezuela’s oil exports. With refineries running at seasonally high output and gasoline inventories building, most states, outside of price-cycling markets, have continued to see declines, with some stations in nearly a dozen states now dipping below the $2-per-gallon mark,” said GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan. “That trend could persist a bit longer before prices finally bottom out sometime in January or February.”
Statewide trends are a little higher than in the Peoria-area. GasBuddy reports an average of $2.90/g in Illinois on Monday, up one cent from the past week. The lowest price in Illinois recorded on Sunday was $2.23/g, with the highest at $4.49/g.
