The holiday gas climb due to the travel and shutdown of gas refineries appears over, according to an American Automobile Association (AAA) news release.

The AAA news release said that since Christmas Eve, when the national gas price average was $3.09, the price rose every day, but that has since “flattened” over the previous weekend and even fell slightly.

“As we head toward February, pump prices will likely dip, barring any jolt in the global oil market,” Andrew Gross, AAA spokesperson, said. “But it is likely that the national average prices we saw heading into Christmas may have been the lows for this winter.”

The release said new information from the Energy Information Administration said gas demand fell from 9.33 million barrels per day to 7.51 b/d while the total domestic gasoline stock fell by 300,000 barrels (bbl) to 222.7 million bbl.

“At the close of Friday’s formal trading session, WTI increased by 10 cents to settle at $73.77,” the AAA news release said. “A lower dollar helped to push crude prices higher at the end of the week. However, crude prices declined earlier in the week amid ongoing global economic concerns due to rising COVID-19 cases in China. Crude prices could decline further this week if economic concerns persist.”

AAA said Ohio had the 20th highest gas price of all of the states in the country plus Washington, D.C. The site said Ohio’s average price per gallon was $3.243 as of Thursday. That is a decrease from one week ago when the price per gallon was $3.285, according to AAA. One month ago, the average price was $3.073.

The lowest area gas prices, according to GasBuddy on Thursday, were:

* Chillicothe — The lowest price was $3.13 at Murphy USA.

* Greenfield — The lowest price was $3.21 at Marathon.

* Hillsboro — The lowest price was $3.17 at multiple places.

* Mount Orab — The lowest price was $3.03 at multiple places.

* Wilmington — The lowest price was $3.19 at Shop & Go.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.