(The Center Square) – For the second week in a row, Washington state residents have seen a steep dip in prices at the pump according to AAA data.
On Monday, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded was sitting at $5.02 statewide, that number down from $5.26 one week ago.
Continuing the trend from last week, this 24 cent per gallon decrease placed Washington fourth nationwide in weekly price decrease. The Evergreen state sits in the top ten largest weekly decreases in fuel costs, just behind Oregon at 26 cents per gallon, and just ahead of Nevada at 20 cents per gallon.
“Global recession fears coupled with the Biden Administration’s plan to continue tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve into December has helped temper oil prices,” AAA spokesperson Andrew Gross said in a statement Monday.
“Although gasoline demand is up slightly, it remains nearly 1 million bbl lower than this date last year. If demand remains low and oil prices don’t spike, pump prices will likely keep falling,” the news release reported.
Despite Biden’s plans to continue tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve through this December, the national average is still 9 cents per gallon higher than a month ago, and 41 cents per gallon more than a year ago.
Intra-state variance remains high in Washington at $1.11 per gallon. The difference largely follows the divide of the Cascade range, westernerers paying more than those in the east. Representing the outliers is Wahkiakum County on the west at $5.55 per gallon and Pend Oreille County in the east at $4.44 per gallon.
Washington state residents also have a new cap-and-trade tax to look forward to starting next year, which would drive fuel costs an estimated 46 cents per gallon higher. This would be on top of Washington’s current rate of 49.4 cents per gallon of state tax.
