COLUMBIA (WACH) -- There's good news to report for all of the motorists in the Midlands. Average gas prices in the Columbia area have dropped since last week.
According to ColumbiaGasPrices.com, a gallon of unleaded has dropped 2.6 cents to an average of $3.38.
That's up over 96 cents since last year at this time and just a fraction of a cent lower than one month ago.
The national average dropped at a much slower rate over the past seven days, falling only .1 cents per gallon. Consumers nationwide are seeing an average of $3.66.
"Late last week we started to see a drop in wholesale gasoline prices, which is the price stations pay. Such news means the national average may begin moving lower," said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst. "While I'm hopeful we'll start to see lower retail gasoline prices in the days ahead, we have seen considerable volatility and I'd hate to see the market move higher in the days ahead, negating any expected drop in retail prices," DeHaan adds.
South Carolina now ranks at the top of the list for states with the lowest gas prices in the U.S. Spartanburg, Greenville and Columbia all have places in the top ten cities across the country with the cheapest gas.
Visit our Pain at the Pump page for the latest gas prices in your neighborhood.