WESTWOOD — Local and state gas prices have continued to decline this week, with the average price in the Berkshires falling 9 cents, and the average state price 10 cents, AAA Northeast reported on Monday.
The price in the Berkshires has dropped to $3.65 per gallon, while the state price is now 1 cent higher at $3.66. The state price is 16 cents lower than a month ago and 25 cents higher than it was at this time last year. But the state price is 26 cents higher than the national average, which has dropped another 14 cents this week to $3.40. The national average is 39 cents lower than a month ago and 5 cents more than last year.
The recent steep plunge in domestic gas prices may be affected by the results of Sunday's meeting of OPEC+, a group of 23 oil-producing nations, including Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Domestic gasoline prices have dropped 26 cents nationally in the past two weeks. But OPEC+ decided to maintain output cuts of 2 million barrels per day, about 2 percent of world demand. The purpose of the move is to boost the global price of oil, which has fallen recently on fears of demand weakness, specifically in China.