Phoenix gas prices expected to drop below $5 soon, keep falling in coming weeks

PHOENIX – After gas prices peaked at record levels last month, Valley motorists are starting to get some relief at the pump.

A fuel industry expert said Wednesday he expects Phoenix’s average gas price to drop below $5 by the end of the week and keep falling for several weeks.

But plenty of uncertainty remains, making longer-term trends difficult to predict, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Wednesday.

“My crystal ball isn’t good enough to be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re in the clear,’” he said. “But barring of those unexpected disruptions, I do think that we could see prices falling two, three, maybe four weeks, and the average price in Phoenix, $5.07 a gallon today, that’s going to fall under $5 a gallon likely in the next 72 hours.”

29 days straight of declining #gasprices! We’re now down 40c/gal from the peak with Americans spending $150 million LESS on gasoline today alone vs June 14. National average $4.634/gal with over 10,000 stations at $3.99 or less. We will fall under $4.60 by the weekend.

— Patrick De Haan ⛽️📊 (@GasBuddyGuy) July 13, 2022

Despite volatile market conditions, De Haan said he could see Phoenix prices falling another 25-50 cents a gallon or more in the near future.

“There’s a lot of different factors here that could change over the coming weeks. So, where we go beyond this, things could change at a moment’s notice,” he said.

“But for now, it’s looking like we’re going to continue to get a break at the pump.”

Local, state and national gas prices have been trending lower for the last month or so. According to AAA, Phoenix peaked at $5.70 on June 15 and Arizona reached a record of $5.39 on June 17. The state average was down to $4.93 on Wednesday.

The national average, which topped out at $5.02 on June 14, was at $4.63 on Wednesday.

Volatility will likely continue until the Russian invasion of Ukraine is resolved, De Haan said. Factors such as the economy, interest rates and potential extreme weather events add to the uncertainty.

“Things could change at a moment’s notice,” he said.

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