(WKYT) – Gas prices have started to decrease, and AAA believes this trend will continue this week.
According to AAA Bluegrass Public and Government Affairs Manager Lori Weaper-Hawkins, recent fluctuations in gas prices have been linked to the conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
“Since the Iran conflict began at the end of February, we’ve seen those gas prices ticking upward, certainly. Gas prices nationally were at $2.98 back on February 28th when the conflict began, and that’s because we’ve seen those oil prices go up as well, with them peaking over $100 a barrel,” said Weaper-Hawkins. “What we’re seeing today, as of yesterday, when the agreement was announced, we saw those oil prices down to $80 a barrel already.”
Nationally, the average gas price is $4.06 a gallon as of Monday. A month ago, it was at $4.52 a gallon. The national average has not been below $4 a gallon since March 30th.
James Brown is in the service industry and says a small change can quickly add up.
“I travel 150 to 200 miles a day. So on average, I fill up about three times a week between $125 and $150,” said James. “Unfortunately, we can’t control what goes on. So, you know, I don’t, I’m not into politics greatly, so I don’t try to pretend that I am. But I just know that it’s unfortunate that what’s going on.”
In Kentucky, the average was $4.20 a gallon last month and is now at $3.52 a gallon.
Terry Gidley drives a truck professionally and believes state taxes are part of why gas prices have been high.
“Depending on the state, like some of the other, like, northern states and stuff like that, that’s got a lot higher taxes. A lot of other stuff added onto it, they’re a lot higher. As far as, like, West Virginia and stuff, I won’t run, they’re a little bit higher, but because of their taxes,” said Gidley. “It’s just basically fear, and it’s getting close to the time for the refineries to switch over from winter gas to summer gas plants. The biggest problem is a lot of areas, like, for example, California has their own special gas. If they would make that more uniform across the board, then it would be not as expensive.”
Although pump prices are at four-year highs, the national average is still almost a gallon below the record of $5 a gallon, which was set on June 11, 2022. This record was set near the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia War.
“This spring, as we headed into the springtime anyway, when we saw those gas prices really go up as the Iran conflict began, it really mirrored what we were seeing almost certainly by the calendar we saw in the spring of 2022 when heading into Memorial Day. And that was because of the Russia-Ukraine war at that time getting underway, and that really caused oil prices to go up, and again, gas prices to go up as well,” recalled Weaper-Hawkins. “This was really kind of a throwback to what we were seeing at that time in 2022, and just like we saw in 2026, it was a geopolitical event impacting oil prices that then impacted us here at home. I think it’s a reminder that even if the US isn’t directly involved in a conflict, with the Russia-Ukraine conflict getting underway, that still causes oil prices to go up globally. And because oil is on a global market, that causes our prices of oil here at home to go up, and gasoline prices follow.”
AAA does not forecast long-term, but gas prices are expected to continue to drop this week.
“Friday, once that agreement is signed and the Strait reopens, we can expect that that will really have a good impact on prices at the pump,” said Weaper-Hawkins. “I do tell people that while gas prices really seem to jump up when we have these geopolitical events, it does take longer, oftentimes, for them to come back down and to get to a level as we would expect them to be during the summer season.”