Chance for $1 Gas Disappears

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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Chance for $1 Gas Disappears

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As national gasoline prices fell below $1.70 three months ago, based on the average for a gallon of regular, several areas had $1 gas, and in states like Oklahoma, the price for the entire state was headed in the $1 direction as well. The national average for a gallon of regular has surged to $2.04 recently. The chance that gas will be below $1 anywhere in the United States has disappeared.

The lowest prices for a gallon of gas are in the Oklahoma City area, where several stations have gas prices of $1.48. All 50 of the locations with the cheapest gas in America are in Oklahoma, with prices ranging from $1.48 to $1.53.

It is no surprise that Oklahoma has the locations with the cheapest gas because it has the lowest average price among all states at $1.77. Contrast that to California, which has the most expensive average at $2.80, according to GasBuddy.

Obviously, the primary mover in gas prices is the cost of crude oil. The price of oil is near $37, up from a 52-week low of just below $30 three months ago. The figure is still well below the 52-week high of just above $65.
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Another critical factor is proximity to refineries. Oklahoma has its own, but the state is also close to the huge refineries south of Houston on the Gulf of Mexico. This also helps keep gas prices low in Mississippi at $1.84, Alabama at $1.85 and Louisiana at $1.85, as well.

Another factor in gas prices is the taxes and fees states added. The national average is $0.48 a gallon, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Oklahoma’s is $0.35 and California’s is $0.59.

Oklahoma may continue to have the lowest gas prices in America, but that price will not be back at $1 anytime soon.

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
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.

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