Average gas prices around the East Valley dipped nearly 3 cents this week and a penny statewide.
And in Scottsdale, which still has the priciest gasoline in Arizona, at least they didn't go up.
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"This is the first leveling off in four months," said Linda Gorman, AAA Arizona spokeswoman.
A winning combination of supply increases and demand decreases stemmed the seemingly endless rise in fuel tabs, she said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said today that the supply of crude oil is up, while demand for gas slipped more than 2 percent last month, Gorman said. And that's during a period when demand typically increases 1 percent to 1.5 percent, she said.
But before you schedule a holiday weekend at the beach, note that July 4 could cause a demand spike that would boost prices again, Gorman said.
AAA is forecasting a decline in travel for this Independence Day weekend, she said, but since the holiday falls on a Friday, more people than expected might plan a three-day getaway.
As for the short-term future of pump prices, Gorman said it's too soon to know if they finally have peaked and will start heading downward.
"We'll just have to wait and see how it plays out over the next few days," she said.
Wednesday's East Valley average tab of $4.11 for a gallon of regular is still a monumental 41 percent higher than the $2.92 motorists paid this time last year.
