As Midwest gas averages fell to near 12-year lows during the past week, Queen City prices moved closer to the $1 mark.
This morning, Springfieldians could purchase gas for as low as $1.16 per gallon at both Sam’s Club locations, $1.17 per gallon at Price Cutter Express, 1260 St. Louis St., and $1.18 to $1.33 elsewhere in the city, according to
MissouriGasPrices.com.
Statewide, the lowest price recorded was $1.14 per gallon at a filling station in central Kansas City.
For the week ended yesterday, Missouri gas prices dipped 3 cents to an average $1.39 per gallon. That’s 26.5 cents lower than a month ago and 68.4 cents below the same day in 2015, according to a
GasBuddy.com news release.
During the past five years, Missouri’s average has landed as as $3.46 per gallon in 2013, according to GasBuddy historical data.
Last week, nine Midwest states - not including Missouri - posted the lowest gas averages since early 2004. The state with the lowest average was Oklahoma at $1.37 per gallon, the website reported.
With its average of $1.40 per gallon this morning, the Show-Me State ranked second behind Oklahoma on
GasBuddy’s list of the lowest averages in the nation.
The national average dropped 3.9 cents during the past week to $1.69 per gallon yesterday. With the change, the U.S. average is 23 cents lower than a month ago and 55.5 cents less than a year ago, according to the release.
“We are mid-February and 45 out of 50 states have a state gas average below $2, and the national average is at a multiyear low,” said Jeff Pelton, GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst, in the release. “Sadly, these incredibly low gas prices won’t be here forever, as refineries talk of production cuts with crude oil at a 13-year low.
“Additionally, their spring turnarounds and the changeover to summer spec gasoline also loom ominously on the horizon. The sooner the refineries can complete their maintenance and start producing gasoline again, the better for drivers everywhere.”
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was trading at $29.71 per barrel as of 9:27 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $26.05 to $65.69. Light sweet crude oil futures for March were trading at $29.70 per barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange.
