Gas Prices Continue Drop

Consumer Affairs: Despite a jump in oil prices this week, the price of gasoline at the pump continues to drop, with the average price down six cents a gallon in the last week. The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.723 a gallon, down from $3.889 last Friday, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. It's more than 20 cents lower than a month ago.

The price of diesel fuel has dipped below the $4 mark, to $3.986, down from $4.005 a gallon last week.

Gas prices have continued their slow decline since early May, despite volatility in the oil market. Crude prices surged at mid week after OPEC ended a meeting without coming to an agreement on production quotas

Oil traders remain convinced that long-term, oil will be in short supply and prices will have to go higher. But the other side of that coin is what high gas prices do to the economy. At the OPEC meeting, Saudi Arabia warned that continued high oil prices might through the world into another recession.

The biggest change in gas prices during the week came in the upper Midwest, where pump prices surged last week after a Canadian pipeline was temporarily shut down. Pump prices in Michigan, Illinois and Indiana are well off last week's highs.

The states with the most expensive gasoline today are:

Alaska ($4.240)

Illinois ($4.056)
Hawaii ($4.030)
Connecticut ($4.027)
Washington, DC ($3.980)
New York ($3.969)
Michigan (($3.959)
California ($3.958)
Washington ($3.895)
Indiana ($3.874)

The states with the least expensive gasoline today are:

South Carolina ($3.442)

Tennessee ($3.497)
Mississippi ($3.503)
Alabama ($3.517)
Arkansas ($3.541)
Missouri ($3.545)
Texas ($3.570)
Louisiana ($3.577)
Virginia ($3.590)
Oklahoma ($3.595)