Oil prices across the country are beginning to fall.
According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular gas in New Hampshire is $4.38, down from $4.47 a week ago.
The average price of diesel fuel in the Granite State is $5.64, down 9 cents from last week.
For the past three months, people around the state have told News 9 that rising gas prices have affected their day-to-day lives, while others said they are simply trying to manage the higher costs.
On Sunday, crude oil was priced at $84 per barrel, down $34 from April 29, when it was $118 per barrel.
Former chief economist for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Dr. Massood Samii said one reason prices are falling is that Saudi Arabia has started exporting oil through a new port.
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Another factor, he said, is growing anticipation of a ceasefire in the Middle East.
“The expectation of at least reaching a ceasefire between Iran and U.S., and opening up the Persian Gulf for export of oil, that has reduced the risk premium in the market and the prices. So the futures oil price has gone down considerably,” he said.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are not expected to return to pre-conflict levels until later this year. Even then, some oil production in the Middle East is expected to remain disrupted.
Samii said once a ceasefire agreement is reached, drivers could begin to see a more significant drop in prices, with gas potentially falling to nearly $2 per gallon.
“It will take at least couple of, two or three months before things turn normal. And my guess is that if that happens, the price could go down considerably, even more than what it was before,” he said.