BY THOMAS GRILLO
LYNN — As we head into the busiest driving season of the year, gas prices continue to fall, according to AAA Northeast.
Gasoline prices in Massachusetts fell two cents in the last week and could go lower. AAA’s most recent survey of Bay State prices finds self-serve, regular averaging $2.19 per gallon.
Pump prices have now fallen for 33 straight days, the longest streak since August and September of last year, and are at their lowest level since 2004, according to Thomas Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the New Jersey-based Oil Price Information Service (OPIS).
“It’s unusual because we are seeing record demand,” he said. “But the difference is we’ve added 1 million barrels a day to the market thanks to our refining capacity.”
The Massachusetts price is four cents below the national average for regular of $2.23. A year ago at this time, the average price in Massachusetts was 53 cents higher at $2.72.
The range in prices in the latest BostonGasPrices.com survey for regular is 22 cents, from a low of $2.17 per gallon at Global at Eastern and Western avenues to a high of $2.39 at Best on Eastern Avenue near Melvin Street.
But there’s hope for even lower prices coming to the North Shore. The most recent Department of Energy report said domestic gasoline production is just 100,000 barrels per day short of the all-time record, and that should fuel lower prices.
Of the 130,000 gas stations tracked by OPIS, 75 percent have priced gas at more than $2 a gallon, leaving about 25 percent at below $2 with a fraction selling under $1.75.
Kloza said he expects gas prices to fall a few more cents in July, but August is a toss up.
“If there’s a threat of a storm in the Gulf of Mexico that could be enough to push prices back up,” he said. “But if it’s quiet, prices could continue to drop after Labor Day.”
Thomas Grillo can be reached at [email protected].
