(NewsDakota.com/NAFB) – For the first time in 2023, the nation’s average gas price posted a weekly drop, falling 4.4 cents from a week ago to $3.44 per gallon.

The national average is up 17.5 cents from a month ago and 1.7 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average diesel price fell 5.2 cents last week and stands at $4.60 per gallon. Still, GasBuddy reports U.S. retail gasoline demand rose 2.2 percent last week. GasBuddy’s Patrick De Haan says, “While the decline in both gasoline and diesel prices is terrific, it’s not unusual to see prices falling in February, which tends to be the month with some of the lowest gasoline prices of the year thanks to seasonally weak demand.”

For diesel, De Haan says we’re likely to see more declines, and potentially much more significant ones in the weeks ahead as imports of distillate have accelerated, leading to a sell-off.