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Gasoline prices are falling in Grayson County, matching trends in the rest of the state.

Over the last week, the price of a regular gallon of unleaded has fallen from $3.89 at some Leitchfield stores to $3.78 Friday morning, with one store — Center Court on Brandenburg Road — at $3.72.

In the past two weeks, average retail gas prices in Kentucky have fallen more than 14 cents per gallon, averaging $3.66 per gallon Friday, according to the gasoline price website GasBuddy.com. In comparison, the national average has fallen about 4 cents in that time, to $3,80 per gallon.

“Unsurprisingly, the average price for a gallon of regular self-serve continues to drop in a majority of communities across the United States,” said GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan. “The national average now stands nearly 10 cents per gallon lower than the same date a year ago, but will we hear an end to complaining about gasoline prices at the pump?

“Perhaps the rhetoric will wind down, but with summer around the corner, any sudden increase in price of gasoline will have Americans virtually calling for the heads of politicians in November,” DeHaan said.

In late March prices suddenly rocketed up statewide, topping $4 a gallon in Louisville. They climbed more slowly in Grayson County, but did jump 21 cents per gallon to top out at about $3.89 — where they had seemingly stalled from about mid-April on.

And as is usually the case, prices have fallen faster and farther in neighboring communities, according to personal observations and pricing information from GasBuddy.com.

Prices Thursday ranged from $3.59 per gallon in Hardinsburg to $3.65 to $3.69 per gallon in the Elizabethtown and Radcliff area. They were a little higher west of Grayson County, with a gallon of regular selling for $3.69 to $3.73 in Owensboro and $3.75 in Morgantown.

In Bowling Green, regular gas was selling for $3.59 throughout most of the city, according to GasBuddy.com — with the exception of Key Oil Co. on Industrial Drive, where it was $3.67.

Including the change in prices statewide during the past two weeks, prices Friday were more than 22 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago.

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The slide in gasoline prices likely will continue in the coming weeks, since oil prices are continuing to drop. Crude oil prices fell sharply early Friday after the Labor Department reported weaker than expected job gains last month. Benchmark West Texas crude oil sank 4 percent to $98.52 a barrel, its biggest one-day drop this year, and the first time crude had fallen below $100 since February.

Tensions in the Middle East, where a possible showdown with Iran had driven speculators to push crude oil prices up sharply since the start of the year, had led to predictions that gas this summer would top the record $4.11 a gallon average set in July 2008. Those have eased in recent weeks.

But with consumption down, global economic weakness and rising production, the price run-up ran out of steam six weeks before the peak of summer driving season.