According to Gasoline experts, drivers across Illinois are seeing some relief at the pump. Average gas prices in the state have dropped just over two cents per gallon in the past week, now sitting at about three dollars and one cent, according to GasBuddy. That’s nearly 22 cents cheaper than a month ago and about 18 cents lower than this time last year.

GasBuddy’s survey of more than 4-thousand Illinois stations shows prices ranging widely across the state, from a low of two-dollars-fifteen a gallon to a high of four-dollars-seventy-nine. Nationally, gas prices also continue to fall. The U.S. average dropped four-and-a-half cents in the past week to about two-dollars-eighty-five a gallon. Diesel prices nationwide are also down, now averaging about three-dollars-sixty-two per gallon.

GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan says the national average is at its lowest point since March of 2021, just ahead of the Christmas travel season. He adds the decline is being driven by refineries boosting production and lower crude oil prices, with the downward trend expected to continue into the end of next year.

Looking around the region, prices are averaging two-ninety-three in Peoria, two-seventy in St. Louis, and two-eighty-three in Champaign — all down from last week. GasBuddy says motorists nationwide are saving hundreds of millions of dollars each week compared to this time last year.