Average gasoline prices edging lower

Iowans should be feeling a little less pain at the fuel pump as gasoline prices dip to their lowest level since 2010.

Average retail gasoline prices have fallen 1.6 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $3.41 per gallon Sunday, according to website GasBuddy.com's daily survey of 2,036 gas outlets in Iowa. That compares with the national average of $3.49 per gallon, a decline of 1.5 cents per gallon in the last week.

Including the change in gas prices in Iowa during the past week, prices on Sunday were 17.4 cents per gallon lower than the same day a year ago and 15.8 cents per gallon lower than a month ago.

Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com, said it's unlikely that refiners will boost gasoline production from coast to coast in August as they did coast to coast in July.

'In recent years we've seen August refinery utilization slip a bit below July numbers,” Laskoski said. 'If that happens, we may see prices increase especially in areas where consumers are flocking to enjoy the remainder of the summer driving season.”

The average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States fell by 9 cents in the past two weeks, a sharp drop due to wholesale price cuts at refiners, according to the Lundberg survey released on Sunday.

Prices fell to an average of $3.58 per gallon for regular grade gasoline, according to the survey conducted July 25. It was the first big drop in the year, and comes after 12 weeks of relative stability at the pumps, according to survey publisher Trilby Lundberg.

'There is an abundance of gasoline, inventories are high, and refiners are cutting to chase those summer sales,” Lundberg said. 'We can expect gas prices to keep migrating down, though maybe not to this extent.”

The recent drop in gasoline prices came despite a rise in the price of global crude oil.