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For the first time in a month, gasoline prices in Kentucky as well as nationwide, are starting to show signs of a decline, signaling a possible end to the spike that began at the end of February.

According to GasBuddy.com, a website and mobile app that tracks the price at the pump across the United States and Canada, the average price per gallon in Kentucky at mid-day Monday stood at $3.41 per gallon for regular unleaded gas.  That is down four cents from last week, up 26 cents from a month ago, and down 39 cents from last year on this date.

Although prices in Kentucky remain lower, it’s a similar story across the U.S., where the nationwide average was $3.64 per gallon on Monday.  That is a penny cheaper than a week ago, 22 cents higher than last month, but 47 cents less than at this point last year.

Prices in Louisville are higher than the rest of the state, due to the federal mandate to use RFG in the summer blend, in a effort to cut down on exhaust emissions.  You can see the difference in the chart from GasBuddy.com that accompanies this story.

Although the decrease from last week is small, Patrick De Haan, the head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, says the bigger news may be that we may have seen a short-term peak for the price of gasoline.

“While any unexpected outages could push it up again, there is a rising possibility that barring such, we may have seen our high-water mark for the national average for the summer,” he explained.  “Typically, gas prices peak between May and June, and with the oil market showing significant cracks in strength, we may have seen the peak in the national average already occur a few weeks earlier than average.”

De Haan added, “While it’s possible we could go higher later this summer should a major hurricane target sensitive infrastructure, it appears the odds that the national average will miss the $4 per gallon mark are rising.  It’s certainly looking optimistic for motorists.”