Could Alabama gas prices drop under $3 a gallon statewide?

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - Gas prices are continuing to fall throughout Alabama, but will it last much longer?

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the average cost for a gallon of gas in Alabama today is $3.01.

The bad news is, as the months warm up, oil prices typically begin to rise.

“When we get into March and spring break is around the corner, people start getting out and about more,” said AAA spokesman Clay Ingram. “In anticipation for that, a lot of the investors around the world start buying up crude oil. That causes the price of crude oil to go up.”

Yet, prices are still trending downwards.

“Right now, our global demand is a little low because China and some other countries have reinstalled their COVID protocols,” said Ingram.

With other countries demand declining, prices are still trickling down, even as people prepare for Spring Break in the United States.

“We tend to think that it is U.S. supply, U.S. demand, U.S. everything and understandably so,” said Ingram. “It is really a global supply and a global demand that affects the global prices that we have to pay here in the US.”

Even if demand is high in the United States, Ingram says consumers can make companies bring down gas prices through competition.

“Make an effort to buy the cheapest priced fuel every time you fill up,” said Ingram. “That creates some competition on the marketplace and puts pressure on these stations to lower their price to compete for our business.”

“The more people we have engage in that behavior, the more of an impact it has.”

According to AAA, the most expensive gas in Alabama is found near Mobile and Daphne while the cheapest gas in the state is near Gadsden.

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