Gas prices are down about a nickel in Tulsa this week. 

The average price for regular unleaded gasoline in Tulsa right now is $3.48, but you don't have to look hard to find gas at $3.43 a gallon. 

Patrick DeHaan is a Senior Petroleum Analyst with GasBuddy.com: “With the refinery fire now behind us prices have gone down slightly across Tulsa in the last week.  Meanwhile, Oklahoma prices have moved in the opposite direction, rising five cents a gallon in the last week to about $3.53 a gallon.” 

Looking forward, DeHaan predicts little fluctuation in coming weeks: “By and large gas prices will remain in the mid-three dollar range until mid-September.  That's when we revert back to winter gasoline and demand typically decreases as well with the conclusion of summer."

The bottom line, says DeHaan, is what we end up paying at the pump will mainly hinge on two things:  Whether the economy improves and gasoline inventories. "Typically gas prices bottom out between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and there's certainly a possibility that prices could get down to $3 to $3.25 a gallon by Thanksgiving or Christmas.” 

A year ago Tulsa gas averaged $3.35 a gallon.