The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released its weekly report on the nation’s average gas price, and for the second week in a row the number is down. Even better, this is the first noticeable week-over-week drop of the calendar year. Unfortunately, at $3.929/gallon, filling up your tank is still expensive.

After 17 weeks of steady increases in gas prices, the average cost of a gallon finally flattened out in early April, just shy of $4.00. The last time gas prices crossed that threshold was May 2011, when they peaked at $4.018/gallon. That’s still short of the July 2008 high of $4.165.

Since last week’s drop from $3.997/gallon to $3.98 didn’t even represent one half a percent difference folks were hesitant to celebrate. This week’s nearly $.07/gallon price drop gives a bit more hope that further declines could be on the horizon, just in time for the summer travel season.

As we’ve previously reported, this could also be prime-time for gas gougers, as wholesale prices for gas drop but gas stations choose not to reflect that decrease in the price at the pump.

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