Atlanta Gas Prices Still Above Nation's

ATLANTA -- Our gas crisis seems to be waning. The gas shortage we dealt with just a week ago is now subsiding but prices still remain much higher than the national average.

According to AAA, the national average price for regular unleaded gasoline is $3.50/gallon. In the state of Georgia it is $3.51/gallon, 31 cents more. In Atlanta it?s $3.90/gallon, 40 cents more than the national average.

Why are we so far behind? Will we ever catch up?

Ric Cobb from the Georgia Petroleum Council said, "I wouldn't be surprised at all to see some substantial drops in the price of gasoline in the Atlanta area."

Cobb says gas prices at Atlanta area pumps continue to drop as we continue to build back up from a shortage from a once in 75 year storm named Hurricane Ike.

There are encouraging signs we are catching up to the national average. According to AAA, the national average for regular unleaded gas Sunday was $3.52/gallon. Monday?s average dropped to $3.50/gallon, a drop of 2-cents in one day.

In Atlanta Sunday the average was $3.94/gallon. Monday it was $3.90/gallon, a four cent drop. That?s twice the drop of the national average.

Ric Cobb says he doesn't see a reason why we can't catch up to national levels. Cobb says for drivers the worst case scenario is we don?t get there by tomorrow. Realistically, it will take some time, but he?s not willing to predict how much time.

"We still have to remember we are coming out of a shortage here, we?re still getting back to one hundred percent," he said.

With our supplies still growing and crude prices dropping, Cobb sees an abundant supply of motor fuel in the near future. That could mean even better news for Atlanta drivers. He says it wouldn?t surprise him if prices got below $3.00/gallon.

Atlanta gas prices have traditionally been below the national average. As gas prices rose near $3.00/gallon we started getting closer. That's because Georgia is the only state in the southeast that has a percentage tax on gas.