Gas prices could dip again this week despite uptick in oil prices, expert says

Prices at the pump could decline as much as nine cents this week if oil falls back under $100 per barrel and Russia's war on Ukraine doesn't intensify, according to an industry expert. 

Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, estimated Sunday that the national average for gasoline in the U.S. has the potential to dip another 4 to 9 cents per gallon in the week ahead. 

He told FOX Business that it's "more likely" that gas prices will fall if the price of oil stays under $100 a barrel.

But, "if oil stays under $105, they (gas prices) may still decline, though they won't fall as far," De Haan said. 

West Texas Intermediate futures traded at more than $103 a barrel.

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The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $4.17 on Monday, down 5.4 cents compared to a week ago, according to GasBuddy's Monday data compiled from price reports covering more than 150,000 gas stations nationwide. 

A multitude of factors contributed to this decline, including surging coronavirus cases and the release of a million barrels of oil per day from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve, De Haan said in a blog post. 

"Oil prices fell last week as Covid cases in China surged, prompting restrictions on movements and hurting oil demand," De Haan said. "Meanwhile, President Biden’s announcement that the U.S. would be releasing 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve caused an even further decline in oil."

This caused gas prices "in nearly all areas of the country to fall over the last week," he added. 

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If the price of oil hits and stays at $110 per barrel "that's when decreases stop and prices may start going up slightly," De Haan said. 

Currently, the national average is already 25.5 cents higher than it was a month ago and $1.31 per gallon higher than a year ago, according to GasBuddy data.