After spiking in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, gas prices dropped in Denver and across the country the last seven days, marking the second consecutive week of decline. The downward trend will continue in the near term, observers predict.
As of Sunday, the average price at the pump in Denver was $2.42 per gallon, according to a GasBuddy’s survey of 844 gas stations around the area. That is 3.5 cents cheaper than the average price per gallon in Denver on Sept. 17, the price tracking company reports.
Nationwide, prices fell 5.5 cents per gallon last week for an average cost of $2.55, GasBuddy says.
The gentle rollback comes after Hurricane Harvey shut down refineries in Texas and sent prices soaring in late August and early September. The 25 cents-per-gallon spike experienced in the first week of this month represented the largest single-week gas price increase in the U.S. since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005.
GasBuddy’s staff expects there to be cheaper gas in the country’s future.
“While oil prices have gained momentum in the last few weeks, it will not be enough to stymie the continued decline at gas pumps, which will bring the national average down another 5 -10 cents in the week ahead,” Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said in a news release. “Nationwide, many motorists have asked why all gas prices haven’t come back down to pre-Harvey levels, and while the answer is complex, in short, it will take weeks or months to see gasoline inventories recover fully, but prices will continue to slowly drift lower as inventories slowly improve.”
In Colorado, prices remained mostly flat, falling just 0.9 cents to an average cost of $2.53 per gallon statewide. Major Front Range markets like Colorado Springs and Fort Collins saw more pronounced declines. Prices fell 4 cents and 4.4 cents per gallon in those cities respectively.
Gas is still pricier than it was in Denver a year ago. According to GasBuddy, people were filling up for just $2.10 per gallon on average last Sept. 24.
