PROVIDENCE – Gasoline prices in Rhode Island have fallen for the second week in a row, AAA Southern New England reported Monday.
The auto club’s Nov. 16 survey found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular at Ocean State stations was $2.67 per gallon, down 2 cents from last week and 3 cents in the last two weeks.
Crude oil rose as much as 1.6 percent to $77.56 a barrel on Monday morning in New York Mercantile Exchange trading after closing last week at a one-month low of $76.35. A weak dollar and new data that showed Japan’s economy growing at its fastest pace in two years boosted prices, Bloomberg News reported.
“There is going to be continued downward pressure on the dollar which will be supportive of prices,” Mike Wittner, head of oil research at Societe Generale SA in London, told Bloomberg. “We are still in this range that we have been in for three weeks. There are still question marks about demand and inventories.”
In its survey, AAA found prices in Rhode Island ranging from $2.58 to $2.83 per gallon for unleaded regular. At $2.67, the average price per gallon in Rhode Island is 4 cents higher than the average price nationwide of $2.63.
A year ago, gas prices in Rhode Island stood at $2.10 per gallon, more than 50 cents less than the current average, according to AAA.
Prices fell in Massachusetts for the first time in five weeks. The AAA survey found the average price of self-serve, unleaded regular was $2.61 per gallon in the Bay State, down 3 cents from last week and 6 cents below Rhode Island’s average.
At stations in Rhode Island this week, the survey found average self-serve prices of $2.81 per gallon for midgrade unleaded, $2.92 for premium unleaded gasoline, and $2.89 for diesel.
For more information, visit AAA.com.
