Gas prices decreasing as summer travel wraps up

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) – Gas prices are down because both demand and crude oil prices are down, AAA Mid-Atlantic experts said.

Gas prices normally go up during the summer months as more people hit the road. With recent surges in oil prices, people were paying more at the pump.

Still, prices aren’t down to what most people are used to seeing.

A gallon of regular gas in the Shenandoah Valley is $3.88/gallon. Virginia’s average is $3.83. The average in West Virginia is $4.33.

The national average is $4.03, and that average a year ago was $3.19.

With some students already back in school and others heading back in the coming weeks, demand for gas will be down.

“We are still, though, in the summer travel season. We could still see demand pick back up toward the end of the summer as folks get in some of those last-minute vacations, but on the flip side of that, there’s also a lot of school systems out there that are going back into session,” said Morgan Dean, spokesperson for AAA Mid-Atlantic.

Even though gas prices were consistently high the last few months, Dean said travel was up during the summer.

“We saw higher demand earlier in the summer. For anybody that was out on the big interstates: 95, 85, 81, they’ve seen plenty of traffic out there some weeks during the summertime,” said Dean.

The last time gas was under $4/gallon was about five months ago.

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