Bottom Line - Finally! Prices at the pump ease after 27-day streak By msnbc.com staff and news reports For the first time in nearly a month, you may notice prices at the pump a little bit easier on the wallet. The nationwide average for gasoline prices eased Tuesday, marking the first decline after 27 straight days of increases, according to the motorist group AAA. The average price of regular unleaded gasoline fell three-tenths of a cent to just above $3.76 a gallon, AAA said. The nationwide average was $3.48 a gallon a month ago and $3.72 a week ago. Last year at this time, the average price stood at $3.51 a gallon. The average price is 35 cents, or about 8.5 percent lower than the record high of $4.11 on July 17, 2008. Average prices for regular gasoline top $4 a gallon in California, Alaska and Hawaii. At $4.38 a gallon, Hawaii ranks as the nation's high. Prices are within a few cents of the $4 mark in Connecticut, Oregon and New York, according to AAA. Wyoming has the nation's lowest gas prices, averaging $3.23 a gallon. Oil prices hovered below $107 a barrel Tuesday in Asia after U.S. and Israel leaders met to discuss growing tensions over Iran's nuclear program. After a meeting Monday in Washington, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed no sign of give on competing ways to resolve the crisis. Obama urged pressure and diplomacy to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb while Netanyahu emphasized his nation's right to a pre-emptive attack. The U.S., Europe, Israel and other nations fear that Iran may be building a nuclear weapon. Iran, the world's third-largest oil exporter, denies the charge. "The Iranian fear premium didn't change in our view," energy consultant Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report. Crude has risen from $96 last month amid investor concern that a military conflict aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear capabilities would disrupt global oil supplies. Analysts say Saudi Arabia and other oil producers do not have enough spare capacity to quickly make up for Iran's 4 million barrels a day of crude. Analysts estimate crude would jump to $150 in the wake of an attack by Israel on Iran's nuclear operations. "The risk of a supply disruption due to geopolitical factors is uncomfortably high and increasing," said Richard Soultanian of NUS Consulting. Gas prices have been rising on the back of soaring oil prices, which have surged 10 percent over the past month amid fears that tensions with Iran will lead to an all-out war that causes a disruption in oil supplies. Signs of an improving economy have also boosted oil prices, as has the stock market. All three major indexes hit multi-year highs in the past week, but have finished in the red for the past two trading days. As the Republican primaries hit full throttle on Super Tuesday, the candidates have used gas prices to attack their opponents as well as Obama. On Sunday's morning talk shows, Newt Gingrich said that that rising gas costs would provide a surge to his candidacy, as he has pledged to get prices down to $2.50 a gallon. "The price of gasoline is becoming a genuine crisis for many American families," he told CNN's Candy Crowley, saying it would be a "pretty big burden" for Obama come November. Meanwhile, speaking in Georgia, Mitt Romney refused to promise a lower gas price like his rival. "I'm not gonna come here and pander to you and say here's what your gasoline price will be if I do all those things," Romney told the Atlanta audience. Last week, Gingrich accused Obama of slowing domestic production and contributing to high prices. Romney, meanwhile, advocates opening federal lands to drilling and easing regulations on fracking -- a controversial policy that involves pumping water into rocks to harvest gas. In a speech last week in New Hampshire, Obama stressed that domestic oil and gas production is at its highest point since 2003, and that the United States has more working oil and gas rigs than the rest of the world combined. But he also emphasized the need to develop new energy sources, as domestic production alone is not enough to keep up with U.S. demand. KSBW.com and the Associated Press contributed to this report.