Gas prices falling again, but OPEC & Hurricane loom

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Gas prices in the Chattanooga area fell more than six cents last week according to the GasBuddy price survey.

We’re still correcting as the supply increases following the Colonial Pipeline spill.

The Chattanooga average is $2.11, which is about the Tennessee average now (Knoxville still has cheaper gas at $2.06).

Nationally, prices edged up a penny and a half.

“Gasoline prices quickly reacted to news last week that OPEC had come to a decision regarding cutting back oil production,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “Oil prices surged on the news which fueled gas prices to jump as well, but several days after the news broke, there’s reason to doubt OPEC’s sincerity of a possible production cut. In addition, Hurricane Matthew is a major storm worth monitoring as it heads for the East Coast- perhaps to areas affected by the Colonial Pipeline outage last month. Should fuel availability and power outages arise from Matthew, GasBuddy stands ready to activate our Gasoline Availability Tracker.”

The cheapest gas right now in our area is on Signal Mountain Road north of the river.

Five stations at the foot of the mountain have posted $1.92 prices.

The cheapest gas in Cleveland is $1.98, Dalton has one $1.99 (BP at Cleveland Hwy) & Athens has 3 $1.96 prices on Decatur Pike.