Posted on 12/15/2014 7:56:37 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Just two weeks ago a sole gas station in Oklahoma swept headlines for dropping gas prices below $2 a gallon. Today, 13 states have joined that list and the trend is expanding.
Gas for less than $1.90 a gallon can be found in at least one station in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Ohio, according to CNN. CNN cites ten additional states Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas and Virginia that now have gas below $2 a gallon.
What were seeing is markets at work, Heritage Foundation economist Nick Loris said. Significant increases in supply and a relatively weak demand is lowering prices not just at the pump, but for most of the goods and services we pay for.
The national average has dipped to $2.55 a gallon marking the lowest drop since October 2009, according to AAAs Fuel Gauge Report. Just a year ago, that average was $3.23.
Oil prices are plunging because there is so much oil in the market, AAA spokesman Mark Jenkins said in a press release. Its unclear exactly how long this will continue, but gas prices will keep falling as long as oil prices do.
Jenkins said oil prices are predicted to continue dropping through the first half of next year, increasing the likelihood of $2 gasoline.
CNN partially attributes this drop in prices to decreased oil demand because of the economic slowdowns across Europe and Asia along with increasingly fuel efficient vehicles.
Another key reason for the drop is the increase in U.S. output. Domestic oil production is at a three-decade high, contributing to the increase in supply and driving down costs.
But Loris cautions against celebrating too soon.
The falling prices are certainly a welcome relief, he said, but that doesnt mean policymakers should ignore the government imposed regulations and restrictions that artificially inflate prices and prevent markets from working more efficiently.
Thank you Fracking!!!
$2.09 here in SE TN
Drill baby drill : Sarah Palin was right again
by the way global warming is a hoax
the media lied. US is producing more oil now and driving down oil prices
for decades the news media screamed “Global warming will destroy the Earth”
for this November election the media screeched “ebola is a threat”
beginning to see a pattern? the media is THE threat
Thank God for our leader and president, Obama.
He advised us to check our tire pressures. A simple air pressure gauge would lead us to energy independence, he said.
It took 7 years but we now know how brilliant this prophet is.
/sarc.
Yesterday, I noticed it was $2.48 in Geneva, Alabama. That is probably 50 cents a gallon too high but in these small towns it always takes a month or so to get down to maybe 15 cents a gallon more than the larger towns.
It never gets as low as them.
And Obama is silent as the grave.
For a president who has offered six years of economic misery (intentional or otherwise) one might think that he would do his usual drum major routine and make people think he is actually directing the band in this scenario.
Yet on gas prices he is unwilling to comment and certainly unwilling to celebrate them.
Could it possibly be that such a windfall annoys him greatly and offends his leftist sensibilities?
Close $3 on the CO Rockies.
Close to $3, even.
Before long we’re going to be hearing that Obama is the reason for the season of low gas prices. Sheila Jackson Corn Roll might be the first.
I was going to stop at a Shell today and fill up. It was $2.12. I went on down the road knowing I would be coming back by that station. Fifteen minutes later I stopped and it was $2.08.
Bingo! Ditto to what you said!
Stations are only allowed to charge a few cents more than what they pay for it. The smaller volume stations don’t move as much product so they’re never as low as the big boys.
Dont worry, it wont be long before Government raises the gas taxes...in the meantime sure would like to find some of that $2 gas.
They and their OPEC masters are steaming mad
“Close to $3, even.”
G*d’s punishment for Boulder not having burned, yet?
;-)
I’d like to declare myself a farm and be able to put in a big tank and a gas pump, and load up when it’s cheap (and have a tanker-ful delivered to “the farm.”
I had a professor in college who also had a farm. His farm vehicles ran on diesel and he had a large fuel tank on the farm.
I was more than a little suspicious when I noticed he drove a VW Rabbit diesel.
“I had a professor in college who also had a farm. His farm vehicles ran on diesel and he had a large fuel tank on the farm.”
Those days are over, all untaxed diesel is dyed red ( and that includes home heating oil which is also #2 diesel). Big problem if they find “red diesel” in your car.
At the same time, all the states are letting electric cars use the roadways without paying any road use taxes because they don’t buy fuel at the pump. but I will bet you that they are working on a program to tax the electricity you use for transportation.
Yet another reason is that portion of the American working age population who are no longer IN the workforce. No daily commute will have a measurable effect.
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