PROVIDENCE – “Falling oil prices are leading to rapidly falling prices at the pumps … leaving prices at their lowest point locally in almost six months,” Lloyd P. Albert, senior vice president of public and government affairs for AAA Southern New England, wrote today in the nonprofit auto club’s weekly fuel-price report.

AAA’s Oct. 6 survey found average price of self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline at Ocean State stations was $ 3.329 per gallon, 14 cents less than a week ago (READ MORE) and 64 cents below the July 7 survey’s record high of $4.109.

“Prices haven’t been this low since around the middle of April,” Albert noted. A year ago, the average price of unleaded regular in Rhode Island was $2.699.

Nationwide, the average price of self-serve regular fell 14 cents over the past week to $3.509 per gallon, after falling 9 cents the week before, AAA found.

In Massachusetts, the average price of self-serve regular fell 15 cents over the past week – accelerating from the previous week’s 8-cent decline – to an Oct. 6 price of $3.329 per gallon, or 76 cents below the July 7 high of $4.089. A year ago, the average price in the Bay State was $2.679.

The range in self-serve prices for unleaded regular at Rhode Island stations this week widened to 39 cents, from a low of $3.109 to a high of $3.499, AAA said. Wider ranges were seen for other grades of fuel, which had average self-serve prices of $3.469 for midgrade unleaded (down 14 cents per gallon), $3.589 for premium unleaded gasoline (down 16 cents) and $4.159 for diesel (down 11 cents).

AAA Southern New England is a nonprofit auto club providing travel, insurance, finance and auto-related services to more than 2 million local members with 34 offices in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. To find the most up-to-date self-service and full-service gasoline prices in a given area, go to www.AAA.com and click on Gas Saving Tips & Tools.