MO gas prices continue slide

The decline statewide kept pace with the national average price change, which settled at $3.61 per gallon as of June 3, according to gas price tracker GasBuddy.com. A GasBuddy.com news release said Missouri’s average price has dropped 20 cents per gallon in the last month and 29 cents per gallon in the last year.

The lowest prices in southwest Missouri were in Monett, where prices were between $3.05 and $3.07 per gallon as of June 3, according to MissouriGasPrices.com. The lowest price in the state was $3.02 at Casey’s in Harrisonville, and prices in Springfield hovered around $3.17 and $3.24 per gallon as of 11:45 a.m., the site said.

“With significant downward pressure on oil prices last week, motorists will continue to see prices sliding east of the Rockies, and even the West Coast will start to get in on the action, thanks to a supply situation that appears to be turning around,” GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said in the release.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at $83.08 per barrel as of 11:42 a.m., down from $91.62 a week ago. Light sweet crude oil futures around $83.15 per barrel today on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to the CME Group.