SAN ANTONIO – The price of gas is tanking.
The lower prices are a welcome relief for Alvin Quentin.
“Yes, ma’am,” he told KSAT 12 on Your Side reporter Marilyn Moritz. “You won’t have to wonder where your paycheck went.”
His Yukon was guzzling $120 each fill-up.
The average price in San Antonio on Tuesday was $3.36 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com. Lower-priced stations were selling gas between $3.05 and $3.16 per gallon.
For nine consecutive weeks, prices have tumbled. They’re down six cents in one week, down 40 cents in one month, and down a whopping $1.33 since mid-June when drivers were shocked and pained to pay $4.69 a gallon.
Sky high prices put a bump in family road trips.
“We did decide to vacation within a five-hour radius, compared to what we would have done other summers,” said Brandon McCain.
He filled up his SUV for $60. Two months ago, it cost him $105.
The question now is, “How low will they go?”
“The decline may begin to slow in the days ahead depending on what oil does,” said Patrick DeHaan, chief analyst at GasBuddy.com. “Oil has been trading at relatively low prices.”
That trend continued Tuesday as Brent Crude dropped to about $92 a barrel, the lowest since before the Ukraine invasion. West Texas Intermediate fell to about $86, the lowest since late January.
Oil prices are volatile and ride on economic and geopolitical headlines and events.
Oil and gas prices have declined over the past several weeks because of continued economic worries, both in the U.S. and abroad, especially in China, according to DeHaan.
Drivers can expect to see continued, if not slower, price drops as long as oil remains in current territory.
As much as gas prices have fallen, they remain about 65 cents a gallon higher than one year ago. To fill the average tank, it’s still costing $10 more than last year.