Gas prices, how low will they go? Bottom may be close
Gas was $1.70 for regular on Tuesday. It could drop further.
If there was a silver lining to the coronavirus crisis it would be gas prices. Gas prices are the lowest they’ve been since 2004, according to Department of Energy statistics.
In 2004 gas averaged $1.88 a gallon nationwide.
The national average dropped to $1.74 in late April.
It has since risen to $1.75, though locally, gas has dropped to $1.70 a gallon in many stations.
The lowest price in the state, according to gasbuddy.com, a site that tracks gas prices across the U.S., is a Sinclair Station off Interstate 15 in Barretts that’s just $1.41 per gallon.
The eastern half of the state in general has the lowest gas price, as many stations are hovering just over $1.50 a gallon.
Some southern states have had gas stations as low as 99 cents.
Gas prices could drop a bit more, according to gasbuddy.com.
“It’s becoming a bit clearer that those 99 cent per gallon gas prices from the COVID-19 pandemic are solidly behind us as gasoline demand rebounds across the country as cities and states slowly reopen. The lowest priced stations in the country will see some upward movement, but most areas will still see declines,” said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy. “While oil may continue to struggle, a disconnect between low oil prices and rising gasoline prices has emerged at the hands of refineries that have slowed production over the past month to avoid flooding the market with unwanted gasoline. As demand stages a rebound, it remains to be seen how quickly refiners will raise production to meet the locations that have or will begin to re-open in the days and weeks ahead. For now, expect prices to see upward potential- but only in the lower priced states — as we await a boost in gasoline production.”
Crude oil prices have rallied significantly in the last week as OPEC’s production cut took effect May 1 and as U.S. demand shows the first signs of a long road to recovery, DeHaan noted. But right now, interstate travel is severely curtailed. Montana continues to have a 14-day quarantine in effect for out-of-state visitors that are non-essential.
As such, campgrounds that would start to see travelers this time of year are nearly vacant.