According to a press release from Garrett Townsend, the Georgia Public Affairs Director for AAA, the drop in gasoline prices statewide has slowed.

“The discount at the pump is beginning to slow down in some southernstates. Gas prices in Georgia declined fractions of a penny on Sunday, after dropping 1-2 cents a day for the past seven weeks. Average prices in most major metro markets around the state followed the same trend,” the press release stated.

“The plunge at the pump could soon come to an end,” said Mark Jenkins, spokesman, AAA – The Auto Club Group for the press release.”Pump prices are close to catching up with the recent crude price plunge. However, oil prices are beginning to increase, after OPEC announced a production cut agreement on Friday. Regardless,drivers should continue to enjoy low gas prices through the end of the year, unless oil prices suddenly spike.”

Cobb County gas price averages $2.198

As of this morning the price of regular unleaded gasoline in Cobb County averaged $2.198 per gallon. The statewide average is $2.209 and the national average stands at $2.240 at the time this article was written.

 AAA points to OPEC announcement as reason for oil price rise

The press release points to OPEC crude oil production.

At the close of Friday’s formal trading session on the NYMEX, WTI increased $1.12 to settle at $52.61 per barrel. Oil prices rallied Friday after the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced that beginning in January 2019, the cartel– alongside non-OPEC members, including Russia – will reduce combined crude oil production by 1.2 million b/d. The cut will be in place for six months and will use October 2018 as a baseline, a time when OPEC and Russia had less crude output than in November. With the announcement, crude prices will likely increase in 2019 ahead of the higher demand driving season next summer. Increased crude prices will likely lead to higher gas prices, given that approximately 50 percent of the cost motorists pay at the pump is based on the cost of crude used to make gasoline.

 How does AAA determine gas prices?

AAA explains it’s methodology for collecting data on gasoline prices at the pump as follows:

AAA updates fuel price averages daily at www.GasPrices.AAA.com. Every day up to 130,000 stations are surveyed based on credit card swipes and direct feeds in cooperation with the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) and Wright Express for unmatched statistical reliability. All average retail prices in this report are for a gallon of regular, unleaded gasoline.