NEW YORK -- The price of gasoline fell by 6 cents last week to an average of about $2.16 a gallon nationwide -- a 14-cent decline over three weeks.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported late Monday that motorists paid $2.165 a gallon on average for regular grade gasoline last week versus $2.229 a gallon the prior week.

According to AAA Mid-Atlantic, Virginia's average price over the weekend was lower than the nation's, at $2.06. In Roanoke the average was $1.99, and some stations were as low as $1.91.

Retail gasoline prices have fallen 17 cents from this time last year.

Prices fell the most in the Midwest, where a gallon dropped a penny below $2 a gallon, down 8.5 cents from the prior week. Gasoline was most expensive on the West Coast at nearly $2.51 a gallon.

The price of crude oil -- which makes up more than half the cost of a gallon of gasoline -- has dropped about $27 from its peak above $78 a barrel in July. Gasoline prices ran up above $3 a gallon last summer as a result.

The February crude contract settled down 86 cents at $51.13 a barrel Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gasoline futures fell 2 cents to settle at $1.3754 a gallon.

-- Associated Press