Gas prices drop by 6 cents because of coronavirus fears. Here’s how they’re connected

Gas prices across the U.S. are plummeting due to the public’s fears about coronavirus.

National average gas prices have fallen 6.2 cents to $2.41 per gallon on Wednesday, according to GasBuddy data. The average was found by looking at more than 11 price reports encompassing 151,150 gas stations, the price aggregation site said.

The price of diesel has also dropped 4.6 cents to $2.84 per gallon, according to the data.

Prices fell in almost every state and around 3,000 stations have gas priced at lower than $2 per gallon.

GasBuddy’s senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan told USA Today that coronavirus led to a decrease in demand.

“Tens of thousands of flights have been canceled, people have been told to stay from school and work, and now that’s spreading,” DeHaan told the outlet. “What you’re seeing is a reduction in oil demand globally that has pushed the price of oil down.”

Southern states, including Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, have the lowest gas prices at around $2.01 a gallon. West coast states including California and Washington have the highest prices with an average of above $3 per gallon, according to USA Today.

More than 97,000 people worldwide have been infected and over 3,300 have died from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Gas prices drop by 6 cents because of coronavirus fears. Here’s how they’re connected."