Average gas prices begin to fall across state

Missouri retail prices have moved to about $3 per gallon and, in some parts of the state, to below $3, according to the June 11 report from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Energy Center.

As of June 4, Missouri’s average retail price for regular unleaded gasoline was $3.02 per gallon, 10 percent lower than the average retail price reported May 21. Missouri’s average price is below the U.S. average of $3.15 and the Midwest average of $3.22.

On June 4, the state’s average retail diesel fuel price was $2.72 per gallon, down 4 cents from last month and down 6 cents from last year.

U.S. gasoline inventories grew by 3.5 million barrels for the week ending June 1, but domestic inventories are 8.8 million barrels lower than they were a year ago, according to the report. Refinery outages and maintenance extending into the early part of the summer have kept refinery utilization rates at about 90 percent.

For the week ending June 1, U.S. motorists increased their daily gasoline consumption to more than 9.5 million barrels of gasoline per day – the highest since October 2006, according to the report.