LUMBERTON — Robeson County drivers saw average gas prices retreat a bit during the last week, dropping to just a little more than $3 per gallon.

The lowest prices for a gallon of gas on Tuesday were seen at stations around Lumberton, where gas was selling for $2.99 per gallon at some locations.

That price is well below both the state average of $3.19 per gallon, as well as the national average of $3.39 per gallon.

In fact, Robeson County drivers continue to see some of the lowest prices in the country.

Gas stations around the Southeast lead the nation in cheap gas — compared to the rest of the county.

Some regions in north Texas and around Oklahoma saw prices drop to around $2.90 per gallon on Tuesday.

Average prices in California and the Pacific Northwest continued to sit in the $4.75 range and higher.

Still, national price watchers pointed to declining prices for the first time in two weeks.

According to GasBuddy data compiled from more than 11 million individual price reports covering more than 150,000 gas stations across the country, the national average is up 4.3 cents from a month ago but 82.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

The national average price of diesel has fallen 5.6 cents in the last week and stood at $4.25 per gallon on Tuesday, 82.4 cents lower than one year ago.

“The broad concern over recent failures of the U.S. and global banking system has put enough downward pressure on oil prices that we saw a reprieve in rising gasoline prices in the national average last week,” said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “ But, it may be temporary in nature, and is unlikely to be a long lasting trend.”

De Haan said that while California and areas of the West Coast saw some moderation in price, supply challenges amidst the transition to summer gasoline have led to sharp price increases in Arizona, and other markets during the last week.

“Should the outlook for the banking sector improve, we could again see gasoline prices race higher, while continued or additional distress could raise the possibility of a broader economic slowdown, keeping gasoline prices in check,” De Haan said on Tuesday. “Overall, there are a lot of possibilities.”