Gasoline prices have fallen for the fourth consecutive week with the U.S. national average falling 6 cents per gallon to $2.47 according to price-tracker GasBuddy.

“Gas prices have today entered their fourth straight week of declining nationally, a trend unlikely to be interrupted by Hurricane Nate over this past weekend,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. “Gasoline supply has continued to improve and as temperatures begin to feel more fall-like, demand for fuel will continue to decline. Hurricane Nate, a fast-moving storm, did little to disrupt the flow of fuel to market while having a larger impact on oil rigs. However, the nation continues to be awash in crude oil, so the storm mattered little to oil prices. Look for relief to continue in most of the country while Great Lakes states may see a move higher in the next few days due only to the repetitive price cycling behavior. Nationally, prices still stand about 15 cents per gallon higher than their pre-Harvey level, but the gap will continue to slow as prices slowly trickle down.”

According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. refiners operated at 88.1% of their capacity, a slight drop versus the prior week as refiners begin maintenance season after some delays due to Harvey. Gasoline inventories rose 1.6 million barrels but even so, remain over 10 million barrels lower than levels prior to Hurricane Harvey.

Distillate inventories continued their fall in the last week and now stand over 14 million barrels lower than pre-Harvey levels, nearly 10% lower. Oil inventories fell by 6 million barrels due to declining imports and high levels of exports.

States with the top ten price decreases in the last week: Michigan (-11 cents), Georgia (-9 cents), Alabama (-9 cents), Tennessee (-9 cents), Mississippi (-8 cents), Kentucky (-8 cents), North Carolina (-8 cents), Ohio (-7 cents), Illinois (-7 cents) and Arkansas (-7 cents).

Leading the nation with the lowest average gasoline prices: Missouri ($2.18), Arkansas ($2.23), Oklahoma ($2.23), Delaware ($2.27), Ohio ($2.27), Kentucky ($2.28), Mississippi ($2.28), Kansas ($2.28), Louisiana ($2.29) and Alabama ($2.31).

States with the highest average gas prices: Hawaii ($3.09), California ($3.09), Alaska ($3.08), Washington ($2.90), Nevada ($2.80), Oregon ($2.76), Connecticut ($2.76), Pennsylvania ($2.71), New York ($2.70) and Idaho ($2.68).

Head of Petroleum Analysis (USA)

Patrick has developed into the leading source for reliable and accurate information on gas price hikes. Patrick has been interviewed as a gasoline price expert hundreds of times since 2004. Based in Chicago, Patrick brings to GasBuddy all his assets to help consumers by giving reliable and accurate price forecasts, including the San Jose Mercury News dubbing Patrick "one of the nation's most accurate forecasters" in 2012.