Gasoline prices usually peak in the summer. This year, however, they peaked in May.
The subsequent slide in pump prices has made gasoline an average 24 cents per gallon cheaper than what it was on Memorial Day.
The AAA auto club reported last week that the average price of a gallon of gasoline in Washington state is $3.839.
An informal North Olympic Peninsula poll found the average this weekend to be closer to $3.819.
The national average, fueled by states with lower gas taxes than Washington’s, now stands at $3.55 per gallon. That’s the cheapest national average has been since late March.
It’s still higher for this time of year than any other year except 2008, however.
Prices have persistently declined since May, following a similar drop in oil prices.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate has fallen in price by more than 16 percent since the beginning of May.
The contract for August delivery lost 48 cents to settle at $94.94 per barrel Friday — the final trading day before the three-day Independence Day weekend — on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
