GasBuddy: Retail gasoline prices may have peaked

April 24 (UPI) -- With crude oil prices on the decline due to concerns about an economic slowdown, retail gasoline prices are moving lower for the first time in weeks, data Monday show.

Travel club AAA posted a national average retail price of $3.66 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline on Monday, just a penny below week-ago levels. AAA last week hinted at a price decline given trends in the price of crude oil.

Patrick DeHaan, the senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy, said this is the first time in weeks for a decline in the national average.

"(A)nd while the fall was quite small, the bigger news may be that we may have seen a short-term peak for the price of gasoline," he said Monday.

Recent data suggest the global economy is cooling off. Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said earlier this month the global economy would grow by just 3% in the next five years.

In the U.S. economy, home prices are on the decline and unemployment is ticking higher. Combined, that's led to a slump in the price of crude oil, which accounts for the bulk of what consumers see at the pump.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, was trading at around $78 per barrel on Monday. It had traded as high as $83 per barrel as recently as April 12.

DeHaan added that gas prices usually peak at some point between May and June, but that peak may already be behind us.

"While it's possible we could go higher later this summer should a major hurricane target sensitive infrastructure, it appears the odds that the national average will miss the $4 per gallon mark are rising," he said. "It's certainly looking optimistic for motorists."

The federal government expects the price at the pump to average $3.42 per gallon for the full year, down from the $3.97 average for 2022.