Gas prices continue to fall in the Bay Area and across the state this week and have seen a drop of 60 to 66 cents over the past month, according to AAA data Thursday.
The average price for regular gas in California stood at $5.82 a gallon as of Thursday morning, down from $6.38 a month ago, AAA says. Bay Area prices by county range from a low of $5.72 in Solano County to $6 in Napa County.
In the Bay Area's three largest cities as of Thursday, San Jose's average gas price was $5.82, down from $6.45 a month ago; Oakland's current price was $5.82, down from $6.49 last month; and San Francisco's average price was $5.87, down from $6.52 on June 21.
According to one energy analyst we spoke with, Bay Area gas prices could drop another 35 to 65 cents a gallon over the next few weeks.
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Patrick De Haan, a petroleum analyst with Gas Buddy, we are in fairly rare territory to see such a significant decline from such high levels. He says prices are down over concerns that the economy could slip into a recession, which would reduce oil consumption. And gasoline supplies have been on the rise four out of the last five weeks. But he points out that the market has been extremely volatile this year.
"There are factors that could push gas prices right back up," De Haan said. "If we see better than expected economic data, we could see prices going up as we would if we see a major hurricane that leads to disruptions or refinery shutdowns."
The Washington Post reports that towards the end of the year, the price of oil could surge as much as 50% because on Dec. 5, Russia will be banned from shipping its oil to Europe as punishment for its war in Ukraine.
