TAMPA, Fla. - Retail gas prices fell last week in Georgia and elsewhere despite a slight increase in oil prices. The price of a gallon of regular, unleaded sold last week, on average, for 4-cents-a-gallon less than a week ago. Oil prices, meanwhile, inched higher after U.S. inventories of crude oil decreased almost 4 million barrels the first week of September. The decrease was approximately two times more than forecast as output in the Gulf of Mexico was cut in half after Tropical Storm Lee threatened refineries. "Oil prices are leaning towards the technical price of $90 a barrel. If we see oil hit $90 a barrel, we are likely to see it reach $100," said Jessica Brady, spokesperson, AAA Auto Club South. "However, continued news of a sluggish economy both here in the U.S. and abroad could very well keep prices below $90 a barrel. Retail gas prices fell slightly last week even though we saw a slight increase in oil prices. It's very likely gas prices could decrease further this week." The price of crude oil settled Friday at $87.24 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange — 79 cents more than last week. The national average price of regular unleaded gasoline is $3.65 per gallon, a 1-cent decrease from last week. Florida’s average price of $3.59 and Tennessee’s average price of $3.46 both reflect a 2-cent decrease from last week. While Georgia’s average price of $3.54 decreased 4 cents from last week, respectively.

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