Gas prices continue to fall

Gas prices continued to drop this week, with a current average in Santa Rosa of $4.03 a gallon.

That’s down more than 40 cents per gallon from a month ago. At its peak locally, gas was $4.55 a gallon on average.

The drop is due to lower oil prices, which dropped to $112 a barrel Tuesday after climbing in early summer; oil prices jumped to $119 per barrel Thursday.

Diesel still remains higher, at $4.38 a gallon on average in Santa Rosa. That’s slightly up from Monday’s average price but down from the $5.10 price a month ago.

At the Valero on Southwest Boulevard in Rohnert Park, the price dropped Tuesday morning to $3.95 a gallon.

“That’s the lowest anybody’s been around here,” said station clerk James Johnson.

Thursday at the Arco on Guerneville and Fulton in Santa Rosa regular unleaded was $3.91 a gallon.

Keeping things in perspective, a gallon of gas on average in Santa Rosa one year ago was $2.92.

According to the Associated Press, analysts have surmised oil prices will remain suppressed due to worries that a global economic slowdown will hold down demand.

Hurricane season and further world conflicts, such as the fight between Russia and Georgia, could keep prices from dropping too far due to supply concerns, according to analysts.