NEW YORK (CNN) - Gas prices dropped nearly seven cents per gallon during the past two weeks, continuing a decline that began five weeks ago, to $1.94 per gallon of self-serve regular, according to a national survey.
The Lundberg survey, released Sunday, said the average price is down 6.67 cents from the average cost of a gallon of gas on June 11. Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey, said the latest reading is more than 13 cents below the $2.07 peak five weeks ago.
The survey looked at the price of gas at about 7,000 stations nationwide.
Lundberg said lower oil prices, which edged downward nearly a dollar since June 11, to $37.55 per barrel, contributed to the drop.
Another contributor: refineries have largely completed their maintenance projects, which had taken some offline, she said.
Prices could drop still further next month, when anticipated OPEC production increases are slated to kick in. Saudi Arabia led the move, promising to boost production by 2 million barrels per day beginning next month, and by another 500,000 barrels in August.
Still, boosts in production may not be accompanied by lockstep declines in gas prices, because July marks the beginning of the peak driving season -- and hence peak demand -- and the summer's antismog formulations required of refiners are the toughest and most expensive of any during the year, Lundberg said.
At $1.69 per gallon for self-serve regular, drivers in Tulsa, Okla., paid the least, while drivers in San Francisco paid the most, $2.27 a gallon.
Prices in other markets include $1.73 a gallon in Atlanta, $1.79 in Houston, $1.96 in Milwaukee, $2.08 in Boston, $2.12 in Seattle and $2.02 in Chicago.
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