Will gas prices continue to fall? Experts weigh in

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Some have noticed a slight decrease in gas prices while paying at the pump, but will this be short-lived?

The Automobile Association of America shared that this week’s gas prices are the sixth straight week of declines in gas prices in Tennessee.

Megan Cooper, a spokesperson for AAA, said she thinks the prices will continue to follow the downward trend, but that can all change because we are currently in hurricane season.

“The market conditions right now are really putting that downward pressure on our gas prices, at least in the short term. It’s likely that we’re gonna continue to see those breaks at the pump. So if there is a threat to that Gulf Coast Region or a Hurricane does hit that region, that can cause an increase in gas prices. So that’s one of those wild cards,” shared Cooper.

Don Bruce, the director of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, agrees.

”I think we should continue to see those prices falling gradually through the rest of the Summer into the Fall as we typically would do at the end of the travel season coming up, but with potentially reduced demand and potentially great supply, we’ll start to see a much lower gasoline price coming in the next few months,” said Bruce.

When it comes to if the lower gas prices will have an impact on other products like groceries, Cooper said it’s too soon to tell.

”It takes money to transport things. It takes that additional money to travel and to go places. So it’s hard to say and it’s a little too soon to really tell what the bigger impact of what falling gas prices will be. For a lot of businesses, we’ve been on very much of a rollercoaster ride of gas prices, and so for a lot of businesses, it’s likely going to take a little bit more time for them to be very confident in that the gas prices aren’t going to change again,” explained Cooper.

AAA said Knoxville is currently the most expensive metro area in the state, with a metro average of $4.11.

The organization also reports that the state gas price average for Tennessee on July 26, 2022, is $3.90, which is down three cents overnight and nearly 18 cents compared to the previous week.

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