For the first time in months, some area gas stations are charging less than $3 per gallon of gasoline, and many experts say prices will continue to decrease in the weeks ahead.

For prices to drop, a variety of factors — the demand for oil and gasoline production, especially — must be at work at the same time, Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst at gasbuddy.com, said.

Oil and gasoline production is exceeding demand right now, he said, which means the price of gasoline is dropping.

In Alabama, the average price of gasoline is currently $3.06 per gallon, he said, adding that the national average for gasoline is $3.44 per gallon.

“We have this situation where supply is exceeding demand, and a number of things have contributed to that,” Laskoski said. “If you look at the situation in the Middle East, when we had an awful lot of nervousness in the financial markets because of Iran and all that was happening over there, we had extremely high crude oil prices. What has happened since is that there have been three rounds of negotiations between the UN Security Council and Iran.

“Some people say that those talks haven’t accomplished anything, but the good news is that Iran is still at the negotiating table. So that has kind of muted the situation in the Middle East.”

Although everyone is glad to see the price of gasoline going down, a trend many expect to continue, Laskoski said its price decrease are reflecting some significant weaknesses in the U.S. economy.

“If you look at data from the U.S. Department of Labor for the last three months, the jobs figures they have reported have been pretty disappointing,” he said. “Because of that, there’s not a single oil analyst out there who’s going to say, ‘Well, we’re seeing better jobs numbers so that would imply that there’s going to be more fuel consumption by people who are returning to work,’ but given that these jobs are non-existent, there’s not going to be any uptake in fuel consumption.”

Clay Ingram, an AAA spokesman, said he didn’t expect the decrease in the price of gasoline to drastically affect the number of Alabamians who travel during the summer months.

“For most people that are taking some kind of vacation, their gasoline expenses are a relatively smaller part of their vacation expenses,” Ingram said. “You may spend $150 on gas but $1,200 on hotel rooms, entertainment, food and souvenirs. Having that portion of your budget go up and down a little bit is usually not a big factor in whether they’re able to go or not. Most people are willing to make sacrifices in other areas to be able to take a vacation of some kind in the first place.”

Ingram does expect the cheaper gasoline prices to influence those people who are on the fence about taking a vacation or visiting their families, however.