Energy

Oklahoma Gas Prices Fall Below $1.15

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: February 15, 2016 10:05 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 1:11 pm

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has fallen to about $1.70, and in some states has fallen to less than $1.50. In some pockets the price is much lower than that. As a matter of fact, there is a portion of Oklahoma where the price has dropped under $1.15, and it is as low as $1.09 at two stations.

The low prices are primarily in stations in and around Oklahoma City. Among the 50 stations in the United States with the lowest gas prices, 45 are in the state, along with four in Arkansas and one in Missouri.

It is logical that so many of the stations with low gas prices are in Oklahoma. It has the lowest average gas price of any state at $1.36, the only state below $1.40, according to GasBuddy.

Oklahoma benefits from several factors that keep gas prices low. First among these has pressed prices down across the country. Oil has dipped below $30, even with a recent rebound, which is a fall-off of about half in the past year.

Oklahoma has its own refineries, but just as importantly it sits very close to the huge cluster of refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, south of Houston. In turn, these have access to the wash of crude from the deepwater rigs close by.

The gas taxes in Oklahoma are among the lowest in the nation. The American Petroleum Institute puts these at $0.354 per gallon, the fourth lowest among all states, against a national average per state of $0.48.

For an analysis of gas taxes by state, see 24/7 Wall St.’s new study of the numbers.