Ohio gas prices fall, VW still near $4/gal.

Average retail gasoline prices in Ohio fell 6.5 cents per gallon in the past week, with prices averaging $3.82 per gallon on Sunday. This compares with the national average, where gasoline prices have increased 3.2 cents per gallon in the last week to $3.89 a gallon, according to gasoline price website OhioGasPrices.com. Prices Monday in Van Wert range from 3.94 to 3.95, at least 12 cents over the average.

Including the change in gas prices in Ohio during the past week, prices yesterday were 21.4 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago and are 7.2 cents per gallon higher than a month ago. The national average has increased 18.6 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 26.8 cents per gallon higher than this day one year ago.

“The national average has finally showed some signs of slowing down, and gasoline prices in dozens of areas have virtually stabilized after rising for two to three consecutive weeks,” said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan.

“The rally in gasoline prices started in March, we could have dubbed it March Madness, to coincide with the flurry of college basketball games, but as the tournament winds down, gasoline prices too have slowed their increase, and maybe — just maybe — gasoline prices are closer to a peak than we initially expected,” DeHaan added, noting that GasBuddy last week revised its gasoline price forecast slightly higher.

The revision can be found at http://www.scribd.com/doc/86920341/Revised-Gasoline-Forecast-Media-Mar-27-2012.