“That explains why the national average price of gas shed 6 cents per gallon in the past week”, DeHaan said. “I actually have been driving a lot more and traveling”.
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For Iowa, fuelgaugereport.com said the average Monday was $2.60, down nine cents from a week ago.
Gas at that price is available at Highland Mart in Highspire.
“Retailers are a little more cautious, especially when they’re trying to decrease the prices because we never know how volatile the prices are going to be”, Mac said. Chances are the dips won’t go below $1.50/gallon, which is something unheard of nowadays, but people are happy to see the prices declining after years of paying almost $4.00/gallon (and some drivers in the country paid even more than that).
Economic forecaster IHS Global Insight projects that lower gasoline prices will be akin to a giant tax rebate that puts about $700 in the pockets of the average U.S. household this year.
“On the other hand, if oil prices continue to fall and operations continue to run smoothly, you could see even larger drops in (the gasoline) price”, said Green.
That’s partly because gas stations are required to sell a more expensive summer blend of gasoline through September 15 due to EPA rules requiring lower-volatility gasoline that produces less ground-level ozone in the summer.
While local drivers welcome to price drop, Las Vegas is still far off from the national average.
We checked the gas buddy app earlier and the cheapest gas station as of Monday was at EZ Go on 26 and O at $2.37 a gallon.
The reason? GasBuddy says it’s down to the partial shutdown of the BP Whiting oil refinery near Chicago – which is causing a “dramatic pop” in prices across the Midwest. Gas hasn’t been below the $2 mark since 2009, when the U.S. was in the depths of the recession.
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Oil prices determine gas prices, and oil plunged almost 20 percent in July to about $43 per barrel, a six-year low.
