A gallon of regular sells for just less than $4 per gallon on Wednesday night, Dec. 7, 2022, at the Safeway in Pendleton. AAA data show the average price for a gallon of gas in the Pendleton area on Dec. 7 was $4.13, down from $4.74 a month prior.

Regular gas has dropped below $4 per gallon at some stations in Umatilla and Morrow counties. The highest average regular gas price in Pendleton in AAA data was $5.36, recorded on June 16. Late last month, prices began their steepest decline since August.

In AAA data, the national average stood at $3.36 on Wednesday, Dec. 7. Oregon’s was $4.11, and the Pendleton area’s $4.13. That was down from $4.18 the day before, $4.36 a week earlier and $4.74 the prior month, but up from $3.63 a year ago.

GasBuddy however, showed many local stations offering lower prices.

Regular at the Chevron station at 309 S.E. Nye Ave., Pendleton, was listed as $3.49 Wednesday morning, Dec. 7. The Space Age Travel Center, Hermiston, was $3.89, and $3.97 at the Sinclair in Milton-Freewater.

Love’s Travel Stop, Boardman, and the Sinclair in Lexington both sold regular for $3.99.

“As a personal driver, I have noticed the price drop,” three-year school bus driver Sheena Motley said while fueling her bus at Dave’s Chevron, Pendleton, on a chilly Wednesday morning, Dec. 7. “It has helped a lot.”

Motley said she thinks prices should continue to drop for winter.

“Then they’ll raise them again for summer,” she said.

Cause and prediction

A drop in oil prices, caused by fears of a slowdown in other parts of the world, have helped keep U.S. gas prices down.

“Gas prices are dropping nationwide, with some of the largest decreases happening on the West Coast,” Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson said. “But the West also has the farthest to fall because its prices are so elevated. For instance, California is still $1.50 higher than the national average.”

A GasBuddy analyst on Nov. 7 predicted a fall below $3 by Christmas.

“All the metrics look very positive for motorists as this week is likely to continue seeing falling gasoline prices, with many areas falling to the lowest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said. “It’s entirely possible the national average price of gasoline could fall under $3 per gallon by Christmas, which would be a huge gift to unwrap for motorists after a dizzying year at the pump.”

While motorists might not receive that much relief this holiday season, his forecast of falling prices has been borne out so far. Inflation overall remains a worry, but energy costs affect prices for food, shelter, clothing, drugs and other commodities. Falling fuel prices might thus slow the rise in the cost of living.

The price of money also has been rising, as central banks have hiked interest rates, in an effort to curb inflation.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled the central bank was preparing to slow the rapid pace of its interest rate hikes on Nov. 30, but also said it would probably keep borrowing costs higher for longer than previously expected to get the economy on stable footing.