Lebanon, Indiana – Prices at the pump have dropped nearly a dollar this month after reaching a record high.
According to AAA, the current average is about $4.33, which puts Indiana just above the national average. Of course, the prices are different depending on where you fill up.
The latest data from AAA shows roughly a 70-cent average-price swing across the state for a gallon of gas. Between Hamilton and Boone Counties, we found a 55-cent difference between a gas station in Lebanon versus a gas station in Westfield.
“Now some stations are taking time to recoup any losses they may have experienced when prices did go up,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said. “That’s why some stations may be more aggressive in lowering prices where others may be clinging on to margins to recoup the earlier losses.”
The economic data coming out this week includes information on the gross domestic product and the possibility of an interest rate hike could drive up prices again, De Haan said.
“A lot of where we go beyond the next couple of weeks is going to be based on the data we are seeing this week,” De Haan said.
According to economists, severe weather also impacts prices overall.
“One of the factors that we kind of worry about with oil prices and gas prices are things like production in the US can be impacted by hurricanes or bad weather that can take production offline,” IU Kelley School of Business Economist Kyle Anderson said. “So that’s something we have to think about going into August and September and getting into that hurricane season.”
According to Anderson, schools re-opening over the next several weeks could also keep the prices from significantly increasing. “As we get into school back in session and people traveling less, the demand will fall and that’s probably a good thing for gas prices,” Anderson said.
