MO gas average drops 7 cents

Missouri's gas average fell 7.3 cents during the week of April 16-22 to $3.61 per gallon yesterday.

The April 22 state average was 17.2 cents lower than a month ago and 14.5 cents lower than a year ago, while the U.S. average - which decreased 4.2 cents during the week to $3.85 per gallon - was 0.7 cents lower than a month ago and 1.5 cents higher than a year ago, according to a GasBuddy.com news release.

"Average gasoline prices nationally continue to slowly drop," said Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst, in the release. "I'll go on the record and say that come Wednesday, I expect the national average in the U.S. will actually be lower than it was on the same day in 2011.

"Perhaps looking at the big picture - with prices having failed to reach new records so far in 2012 - we can restore some gas sanity in this country."

The Missouri gas average, which increased a cent to $3.62 per gallon this morning, ranked No. 3 in the nation on GasBuddy.com's list of lowest gas averages by state. Oklahoma held the No. 1 spot with an average of $3.55 per gallon.

Several filling stations in Belton, Blue Springs, Excelsior Springs, Higginsville, Kansas City and Oak Grove offered gas prices of $3.39 per gallon this morning, the lowest in Missouri. The highest price was $3.89 per gallon at a station in Ste. Genevieve, according to MissouriGasPrices.com.

In Springfield, the lowest price of gas was $3.48 per gallon at Sam's Club, 745 W. El Camino Alto Drive.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at $102.35 per barrel as of 9:23 a.m., down from $103 a week ago. Light sweet crude oil futures for June were trading at $101.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to the CME Group.