There was a two-cent drop in gas prices in Georgia over the past week.

According to a press release from Montrae Waiters, spokeswoman for AAA – The Auto Club Group, the average price at the pump payed by Georgians for a gallon of regular unleaded was $2.42 as of this morning.

“Gasoline stocks have steadily increased the past few weeks as gasoline demand has started to slow,” said Waiters. “This trend is creating cheaper gas prices for the majority of motorists.”

Reasons for the slight decline

According to AAA:

Slightly higher crude prices in December 2018 help to account for the year-over-year price difference. Total domestic gasoline stocks grew for the fourth straight week, according to new data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Stock levels increased by 3.4 million barrels, bringing the total to 229.4 million barrels, which is 3.1 million barrels higher than last year’s level at this same time. In EIA’s latest weekly report, gasoline demand dropped from 9.20 million b/d to 9.03 million b/d, which is slightly higher than last year’s 8.88 million b/d during the same week. Stock growth, amid robust demand, has helped to stabilize the national average.

Cobb County prices

The AAA website has the price of regular unleaded in Cobb County at an average of $2.444 per gallon, about 2 cents above the statewide average.

It is always possible to find lower gas prices than the average by comparison shopping or using tools like http://gasbuddy.com.

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.