The average cost of gas in March was 15 cents lower than the average in 2012 according to a report by AAA. This is the first time prices at gas stations have dropped in March since 2003.
Click here to read the full AAA report.
The decrease is odd for this time of year as prices usually go up during the spring and early summer months. Prices began to increase around February last year and peaked in May, before slowly declining as summer went on.
"Gas prices in March came in like a lion and are going out like a lamb," said GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan. "Essentially what we're seeing here this month is perhaps the largest monthly decrease ever during the month of March, a month that has almost always seen prices finishing the month substantially higher than where they entered."
The report doesn't promise that prices will continue to rise in February instead of March, but if the past two years are any indication, February 2014 could also be a bad month to purchase gas.
When the last decrease occurred in March 2003, it dropped only 1 cent according to the AAA report. Between Mar. 1 and 31, prices dropped 15 cents.
AAA has no clear-cut answer as to why the prices have started to increase and decrease at different times of the year, but they do have theories.
"An increase in refinery production and lower oil prices in early March have combined to provide rare falling prices for motorists in comparison to recent years," said AAA in their report.
Despite the decrease in March, experts feel that April could be a little worse as prices could reach $4 a gallon in certain states again according to Time magazine.
A barrel of oil closed Friday at $97.23 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, which is up $3.52 from the previous week according to AAA.
"Although gas prices may drop another cent or two this week, there's a strong likelihood they will increase throughout April," said Jessica Brady, AAA spokeswoman according to the Business Journal. "Positive economic news and signs of increased U.S. demand pushed oil prices to a six-week high, and if the momentum continues, gas prices will go right back up."
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