Filling up at the tank in the Phoenix metro is still painful. But relief is very likely on the way. After a huge runup in prices in September, those numbers on gas station signs are starting to fall.
Data from GasBuddy shows that the Phoenix area hit record, all-time high gas prices in June. Prices then fell almost two dollars during the summer months hitting a four-dollar average in mid-August. Gas then began a monthlong hike, averaging five dollars earlier this week. The September increase in gas prices was due mainly to refinery issues in Southern California, where Phoenix gets most of its gas via the Kinder Morgan pipeline that runs from El Segundo to Phoenix. Today’s average according to GasBuddy is $4.91, down five cents from yesterday.
Today’s average is down $0.10 from last week as well. Since those same Southern Californian refineries are no longer reporting production issues, prices likely have more room to drop. The daily average is still up $0.75 from last month and over $1.50 from the same time last year.
Since Arizona’s two major metros have gasoline piped in from different regions of the country, the price difference between them grew over the past month. Just this past week the daily average difference for a gallon of regular gas in Phoenix compared to Tucson hit an annual high of over $1.50. Today, a person getting gas in Tucson and Phoenix would pay an average difference of $1.19. This is mainly due to a rise in prices in the Tucson area as refineries in Texas price in OPEC production cuts.
Different areas of the valley are seeing more relief at the pump. According to AAA daily average gas data, stations in the East Valley, Scottsdale, Peoria, and Glendale are now averaging regular gas in a range of $4.85 to $4.87. This is down six to ten cents from yesterday’s average.
Patrick De Haan, market analyst for GasBuddy, expects the drops to continue in the Phoenix area now that refinery bottle necks are cleared. They may even fall as much as $0.50 to $1. This forecast is only for the Phoenix area. Other parts of the state were not dealing with refinery issues and will likely not see a significant decrease in prices any time soon.
