Gas prices in America went down four weeks in a row. Is that true for Washington state?

For the fourth straight week, gas prices are down nationally. The trend has brought the average cost of a gallon of gas from $3.13 the week ending Feb. 24, to $3.06 the week ending March 17, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration data.

But with Washington typically seeing some of the highest gas prices in the country, has the Evergreen State seen the impact of the overall national downturn in prices?

According to the EIA, Washington has seen a decrease, even if prices are only down a little. The average price of a gallon of gas in Washington between March 11 and 17 was $4.02, down from $4.04 the week before, and from $4.09 the week of March 3. At the end of February, the average gas price was $4.11.

If you look at AAA data, though, it indicates that the trend might be starting to reverse. Thursday, March 20 saw an average price of $4.09, on par with the week before, and down from $4.15 a month earlier. However, the average price rose by nearly half a cent between March 18 and 19, according to AAA, and another half a cent on March 20.

Meanwhile, crowdsourced gas price tracker GasBuddy lists Washington’s statewide average at $4.08.

Even with prices falling four weeks in a row, they’re still higher than as recently as early February, according to Energy Information Administration data. The week of Feb. 3, the average price for a gallon of gas was $3.95, while in January, that number stood at $3.85.

But the rise in prices from January to February came after a steady decline in gas prices over the second half of 2024. Overall, prices have ebbed and flowed since a spike that peaked around $5.50 in 2022, and are currently towards the lower end of what they’ve been during that time.

Why are gas prices falling?

According to Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, the drop in gas prices has been caused by two factors: uncertainty in the U.S. economy, and additional oil made available by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“A lot of the uncertainty really stems to concerns if the U.S. economy does slow down, it’s going to lead to likely significantly lower consumption of things like oil, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel,” De Haan said in a phone call with McClatchy. “So oil prices have been backing off a bit in the last couple of weeks because a lot of the uncertainty surrounding especially tariffs and the broader economy two-fold.”

The trend is unusual since this time of year typically sees an increase in gas prices, according to De Haan.

“Americans start driving and consuming more gasoline when temperatures start warming up,” De Haan said. “We’re in mid-March now, and so demand for gasoline typically starts going up the warmer the weather gets.”

Additionally, refineries tend to do maintenance to prepare for the summer right around now, and gas stations switch to a variety that’s less volatile but more expensive to produce, in order to comply with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

Is WA gas expensive?

Washington state has the third-highest average gas price of any state in the country, according to GasBuddy, ahead of just Hawai’i and California.

Prices have fallen slightly more over the past four weeks in Washington than the rest of the country – $0.09 compared to $0.07. However, since Washington’s gas prices were higher than the national average to begin with, both figures represent a 2.2% decline.

Will gas prices keep going down?

Will gas prices continue to fall, or will the seasonal rise in prices win out? According to De Haan, there are too many question marks right now to be sure.

“There’s too much economic uncertainty to know if, if the economy does slow down, that would have a negative impact on oil, pushing prices down, or if, you know, tariffs in a trade war and then gas price would likely go up,” De Haan said.

However, De Haan said that his best guess is that prices will start to rise again soon, but only temporarily.

“We’ve just made the final step in the switch over to summer gas in many areas. So I don’t expect that decline to last,” De Haan said. “I think, temporarily, prices will go up, because at least for now, there’s a tug of war. The negative issues I mentioned are pulling oil down, but the other three issues – maintenance, rising demand and the changeover – usually pull prices up.”

In the long term, the outlook is slightly different.

According to a January 2025 estimate from the EIA, gas prices are expected to increase heading into the summer, before falling over the second half of the year. On the year as a whole, the report forecasts an $0.11 drop in the average gas price nationwide.

2026 is expected to see average costs go down by another $0.18 cents per gallon. However, the forecast was broken down by region as well, with the West Coast being the one part of the country expected to see a slight uptick in gas prices in 2026.

However, the report came out before President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on energy imports from Canada. Washington gets nearly half of its crude oil from its northern neighbor, according to the office of Senator Maria Cantwell. Parts of the tariff package, including the tariff on Canadian oil, have been paused until April 2.

According to De Haan, the tariffs will push gas prices higher in parts of the country that import gasoline from Canada, but in parts of the country that import crude oil from Canada and refine it locally, the economic uncertainty pushing gas prices lower will likely outweigh the extra charge.

“If the tariffs do go ahead at 10%, if the U.S. tariffs many countries, I think it could completely offset the impact that the 10% would be on gasoline,” De Haan said. “The overall economic downturn that would likely ensue from tariffs would likely offset the impact from the tariffs themselves.”

This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.