Gasoline prices have dropped ever so slightly in the last few days.
In Newnan on Tuesday, regular unleaded could be had for as little as $3.69 a gallon on the south side of Newnan, and for $3.72 along Bullsboro Drive.
Last Thursday, the cheapest gasoline along Bullsboro was $3.75 per gallon for regular unleaded.
The drop is not expected to be a sign of further decreases to come, however.
The next driver of gasoline prices is likely to be the ongoing negotiations on the federal debt ceiling. If leaders fail to come to an agreement, it could be bad news for the economy -- which would likely, in turn, be good news for gasoline prices.
An agreement, however, will lead investors to believe the economy will continue to strengthen and, therefore, oil and gasoline prices will go up.
Then, of course, there is the hurricane season, when bad storms equate to higher gasoline prices.
The Georgia state average price for regular unleaded was $3.728 on Tuesday, down from $3.731 on Monday, according to AAA's fuelgaugereport.com site, which tracks gasoline prices.
But the state average price is actually up from last Thursday, when it was $3.707. The state average a week ago was $3.676.
Nationally, the average went from $3.694 on Monday to $3.693 on Tuesday. Last Thursday, it was $3.689, and a week ago it was $3.678.
Oil companies were announcing their second quarter earnings this week, and analysts are predicting it will be the oil industry's second best quarter since the record-high gasoline and oil prices of 2008, according to the "Los Angeles Times."
Oppenheimer and Company senior energy analyst Fadel Gheit told the LA Times that prices for West Texas Intermediate Crude, the benchmark oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, were up 32 percent over last year. And prices for Brent North Sea Crude, the European trading benchmark, were up 50 percent over last year.
Gheit said he expected the world's major oil companies to show a quarterly profit improvement of 39 percent this week.
On Tuesday, BP announced a second quarter profit of $5.6 billion. That's compared to a $17.2 billion loss in the second quarter of 2010, related to the Macondo well explosion and oil spill.
