Gas prices falling nationwide

PHIL COBB/DAILY FORUM
Hy-Vee Gas advertised its price for regular unleaded gasoline at 2.05 per gallon Thursday. A recent report shows that the traditional summer gas price raise didn’t happen this year.

Drivers in Nodaway County are spending less money on gas than last year, and it’s not necessarily because of fuel saver rewards.

The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline this week, as of Monday, was $2.31, which not only shows a year-to-year downward trend, but according to a recent report, also shows a downward trend since January. Oil Price Information Service analyst Tom Kloza said this was an unusual experience, as gas prices usually peak in the summer months.

“We’re looking at more than half of the population (potentially) paying less than $2 when we go into what we used to call the holiday shopping season,” Kloza noted.

Kloza also noted that demand for gasoline typically drops by about half a million barrels per day after Labor Day, which usually begins the annual price decline.

Nationwide, the Cleburne Times Review is reporting that the price difference between the nation’s lowest- and highest-priced stations is at a whopping $1.29, which is a higher disconnect than the average of $.98 for this time of year. Inside of Maryville, however, the difference is about seven cents.

The lowest price on Wednesday was Murphy’s USA and the Cenex next to Pagliai’s, both standing at $1.98 per gallon. The most expensive inside the city limits was Break Time on East First Street near Depot Street, which spent the day at $2.15.

The steady decline in the national average price per gallon of gas, according to the Lundberg Survey, comes amid high supply of both crude oil and gasoline. Crude oil is projected to hit a price of anywhere between $36-$60 per barrel by October, with a full-year average price of $49.

Diesel fuel prices are also down by two cents over the past two weeks, standing now at $2.51 per gallon.