Gas Price Drops to $1.18 in Indiana, Lowest in US

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 13, 2:35PM EST · Published Jan 26, 11:10AM EST

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Gas Price Drops to $1.18 in Indiana, Lowest in US — © Thinkstock

The average price of a gallon of gasoline nationwide is $1.82. However, in some areas it is much, much lower. Lebanon, Ind., has a station that sells gas at $1.18. A nearby station in Crawford, Ind., sells a gallon for $1.23. Indiana is among three states where stations in some places have gas prices well below $1.30, according to GasBuddy.

Eight of the stations among the 20 with lowest gas prices are in Indiana. Eleven are in Oklahoma and four in Ohio. The presence of Oklahoma makes sense, but less so the other two states. The average price in Oklahoma is $1.54, among the lowest in the nation. Oklahoma is not only oil rich, but is also near refineries that provide gasoline.

The price of a gallon of regular in Ohio is $1.63, and in Indiana $1.60. Cheap but not near the bottom. Because the area of very low gas prices in Indiana are geographically close to one another, the reason for these prices could be a small gas price war among stations.

A careful look at the figures for cheapest gas by geography shows that even the Oklahoma prices may be due to local competition. The stations that have the lowest gas prices are clustered together.
[ims_survey]
One primary reason for the drop in gasoline prices overall in America is the sea of available oil, due in part to a flood from Saudi Arabia, and perhaps to falling demand as the global economy slows. Despite the loud protests of other OPEC members, the kingdom said it will keep pumping.

Oil inventory is not the only factor. Proximity to refineries is also an issue. The average gas price in Missouri is $1.59. In South Carolina it is $1.63 and in Texas $1.62. Several are near the huge refineries south of Houston and the Gulf of Mexico, which is dotted by deepwater oil drilling platforms.

Gasoline taxes by state are another factor. The average nationwide is $0.48 per gallon. In Oklahoma it is $0.35. However, in Ohio the number is $0.46, evidence that parts of the state are in the midst of a price war.

To show just how low the Indiana gas price is: one station in Florida sells a gallon of regular for $5.99.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.