Prices for gas see slight drop, but still way up from year ago

    After weeks of rising costs at the pump, Nebraska gas prices fell 3.2 cents a gallon the past week, averaging $2.77 on Monday.
    The slight drop still leaves the state’s average price for unleaded 15.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and 78.3 cents more than a year ago.
    According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Nebraska was $1.99 early this week, while the most expensive found was $3.19.
    “With oil prices finally sagging over the last week on inflation fears and worries about a surge in COVID-19 cases in Europe impacting oil demand, motorists filling their tanks may soon see a brief respite from rising gas prices,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy.
    “Gasoline demand last week rose to its highest level since the pandemic began, but concerns that oil demand growth will stall with COVID-19 cases surging in Europe are eroding oil’s recent rise,” he said.
    While gas prices still rose in a majority of states last week, some price decreases may be seen in the week or weeks ahead, according to DeHaan, even as U.S. gasoline demand continues to rally to the highest level since the pandemic started nearly a year ago.
    “It’ll be a bumpy road the next few weeks as markets sort out the bearish and bullish factors, but I still believe prices will likely experience more upward momentum ahead of Memorial Day,” he said.