MO gas average plummets

Missouri's average price of gasoline fell 18 cents during the past week, dropping the state's average to $3.34 per gallon yesterday.

The state's average, which dropped another 2 cents this morning, ranked it No. 2 on GasBuddy.com's list of the lowest gas averages by state. Oklahoma had the least expensive gas in the nation, at $3.31 per gallon, while Hawaii had the highest average price of gas, at $4.41 per gallon.

During the week of Oct. 15-21, the U.S. average fell 9 cents to $3.67 per gallon, which was 14.2 cents lower than a month ago and 20.1 cents higher than a year ago. The Missouri average yesterday decreased 33 cents month-to-month but increased 11.8 cents year-to-year, according to a GasBuddy.com news release.

"Only one other time in the last few years have we seen the national average drop so significantly in the course of just a week, and that other time was in May 2011," GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan said in the release. "Looking back at our data, we only see that prices dropped considerably more in autumn 2008 when the economy slipped into a recession.

"Given the circumstances with this latest weekly decrease - that it has nothing to do with recession - is significant."

As of 10:34 a.m., the lowest cost of gas in Missouri was available for $3.07 per gallon at a filling station in Harrisonville. The highest price for gas, $3.65 per gallon, was selling at a station in Kirksville.

In Springfield, the lowest gas price was $3.33 per gallon, available at Sam's Club, 745 W. El Camino Alto Drive.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at $90.01 per barrel as of 10:35 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $77.56 to $109.95. Light sweet crude oil futures for November were trading at $89.49 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.