MO gas prices stay low as Thanksgiving nears

Missouri Thanksgiving travelers likely will fare better than most this year due to the state holding the second-lowest gas average in the country.

At an average of $3.09 per gallon this morning, Missouri was trumped only by Oklahoma, which had an average of $3.07 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.com's list of the lowest gas averages by state. At $4.08 per gallon, Hawaii had the highest average.

Missouri's gas average edged down 0.7 cents during the past week to $3.09 per gallon yesterday, a 28.5-cent decrease from a month ago and 1.1-cent increase from a year ago. The U.S. average, which dropped 3.2 cents to $3.43 per gallon during the past week, has decreased 26.4 cents in the past month but increased 6.5 cents in the past year, according to a GasBuddy.com news release.

"With Thanksgiving just days away, Americans will be hitting major thoroughfares en masse. While gasoline prices have dropped in the last month and a half, the national average will still come close to breaking a record - the highest ever national average for Thanksgiving," GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan said in the release. "I don't really see how gas prices could greatly improve between now and Christmas, given the new military action in the Middle East, and other pressures.

"It's all but certain the national average will not drop under $3.25 per gallon, which could lead to a perilous start to 2013."

In Missouri, the lowest price for gas this morning was available for $2.89 per gallon at a filling station in Jennings, near St. Louis. The highest price in the state, $3.37 per gallon, was found at six stations in West Quincy, a border town in the northeastern part of the state, according to MissouriGasPrices.com.

Springfieldians could buy gas for as low as $3.01 per gallon this morning at Sam's Club, 3660 E. Sunshine St.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at $88.96 per barrel as of 10:09 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $77.56 to $109.95. Light sweet crude oil futures for January were trading at $88.95 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.