Much like the vast majority of the United States, Butler County residents have been dealing with higher prices at the gas pump over the last several years.

But drivers could start seeing some relief as temperatures begin to drop.

Gas prices in Western Pennsylvania fell again this week by an average of five cents, according to AAA East Central’s Gas Price Report. The average price for unleaded self-serve gasoline in Butler now sits at $3.55 a gallon.

According to AAA, the five-cent decline is nearly on par with the national average dropping by about seven cents to $3.20 a gallon, 67 cents lower than around the same time last year.

There are multiple factors for the price drop, but two of them are typical as leaves start to fall.

“One of those things is demand going down,” said Jim Garrity, director of public affairs for AAA. “Vacationers, road-trippers, they’re wrapping up their trips and getting back to school and heading back to work. Demand for gasoline does typically go down this time of the year.”

“One of the other things you generally see out of this time of year is the transition from summer-blend to winter-blend gasoline. Winter-blend gasoline is less expensive to produce, therefore, it’s less expensive to buy at the pump. So those are the two seasonal things that typically happen.”

Crude oil costs also weigh heavily on the fluctuating prices. Currently, the average price for one barrel of crude oil sits at around $70 a barrel. At this time last year, it was hovering around $90 a barrel, according to AAA.

“The reason that’s so important is that crude oil is the main ingredient in gas,” said Garrity. “When crude goes up or down, you can expect gas is going to do just the same, because it’s such a substantial part. Crude oil is 50 to 60 percent of what you’re spending at the pump.”

The western side of the state consistently has marginally higher average prices than the eastern side of the state. That has almost everything to do with location, according to Garrity.

“That comes down to proximity,” he said. “One of the things that affects how much you are spending is how much it costs to get that gasoline to your pump. Philadelphia has refineries in and around it, whereas Western Pennsylvania does not. Here in the Pittsburgh area, we generally get our gasoline from Ohio refineries.”

Even as the country accelerates toward what could be a defining presidential election, the trend of declining prices could continue well into November and even into next year regardless of which candidate seizes victory.

“We have the potential for gasoline prices to go lower because winter-blend gasoline hasn’t been doled out in all the markets yet,” Garrity said. “That’s a process that takes a little while. The big thing to keep an eye on and why it’s hard to make a prediction is the price of crude oil. There’s things that happen in the global market that are completely unforeseen to most of us.”