The pain at the pump has become a little more tolerable for many Alabama motorists in recent weeks.

Gas prices across the state are dropping, falling as low as $2.28 at locations across Marengo County.

According to AlabamaGasPrices.com, the state average for a gallon of unleaded gasoline is $2.24. That’s down 13 cents from last week and 42 cents from last month. A year ago, a gallon of gasoline cost $3.07.

“Our economy is improving, our supply is much stronger than our demand and crude prices have dropped considerably the past few months which has pushed our prices lower,” AAA Spokesperson Clay Ingram said.

The cost of a barrel of crude oil, according to AlabamaGasPrices.com, is $56.66.

While Ingram doesn’t expect the Alabama state average to fall below $2, he said the fate of gas prices is in the consumers’ hands

“I think we will see some stations below the $2 per gallon mark, but I don’t think we will get our state average below $2,” Ingram said. “However, it would certainly be possible, and price shopping will certainly help push them lower.”

He said price shopping creates competition in the marketplace.

“If we only buy the cheapest gas, then the higher priced stations will be forced to lower their prices to compete with the lower priced stations,” Ingram said. “It puts tremendous downward pressure on gas prices.”

He said the process is simple, but effective.

“I think we will likely see prices drop a little more over the next 6-8 weeks, before they start increasing as we approach the spring spike in demand,” Ingram said.

AAA says prices peak around Memorial Day then drop again in the fall.