Gas Prices Drop More than 6 Cents a Gallon Across the US

The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline has fallen to $1.732 Monday morning, after posting a benchmark reading of $1.736 at about 3:30 a.m. That’s a decline of $0.063 from last week’s average and $0.257 from last month’s average. Gasoline is selling for 44.5 cents a gallon below last year’s price.

Monday morning’s price is the lowest for the date since GasBuddy began keeping records in 2008. Three years ago, on this date a gallon of gasoline cost $3.576, more than double the current price.

According to GasBuddy analysts, more than half of U.S. states experienced price declines of more than 20 cents a gallon over the past month. Declines were largest in the Midwest, where Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Michigan saw prices drop by 41 to 43 cents a gallon.

The five states posting the lowest prices Monday morning were Oklahoma ($1.376), Missouri ($1.426), Indiana ($1.468), Kansas ($1.469) and Ohio $(1.49).

The five states with the highest prices are Hawaii ($2.656), California ($2.508), Alaska ($2.296), Nevada ($2.204) and Washington ($2.087).

The cities with the cheapest gas are Oklahoma City ($1.321 a gallon), Kansas City, Missouri ($1.354), Tulsa ($1.375), Gary, Indiana ($1.386) and Amarillo ($1.408).

Nine of the 10 cities with the most expensive gas are located in California, led by Los Angeles ($2.651) and Ventura ($2.641). Honolulu, with a price of $2.455, ranked tenth.
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Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst, said:

Gasoline prices continue to plunge coast to coast as refiners continue to churn out winter-spec gasoline that will soon need to be purged. While crude oil prices have held above recent lows, gasoline fundamentals continue to be remarkably weak as refiners continue to churn out winter-spec gasoline, incentivized by cheap crude oil. This has put retail gasoline prices under tremendous pressure as gasoline inventories rise to their highest January level since records started in 1990. Refiners will continue selling any winter spec gasoline at bargain basement prices to rid themselves of it before specifications change heading into summer. In the days ahead, expect this seasonal “clearance sale” of gasoline to continue, leading to lower prices in most areas. But don’t get too relaxed – the shift in specifications will lead to an eventual lift in prices once winter gasoline is gone.

The most common price across the United States for a gallon of gasoline Monday morning was $1.599 and, according to GasBuddy, there are no stations in the country selling gasoline for more than $3.50 a gallon. Nearly 25% of all U.S. gas stations are now selling gasoline for less than $1.50 a gallon.