MI gas prices are lowest in US

If current trends continue, the average price here will fall to a range of $2.44 to $2.54 by the end of December, Will Speer, a petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com, said Monday. Nationwide, the average price stands at $2.04 a gallon.

Average retail gasoline prices in Missouri have fallen 4.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $1.81 per gallon yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 3,940 gas outlets in Missouri.

Still, in the late morning, some suburban gasoline stations were beginning to raise prices, which could bring Chicago-area prices slightly above the national average again at least briefly, DeHaan said. “If there are surprises either way, it could definitely be felt at the pump and into 2016”, he added.

AAA Michigan says gas prices statewide have decreased by about 12 cents USA in the past week. In early 2015, the national average dropped near the $2 mark but never crossed it. But AAA and others anticipate that we’ll dip below the $2 per gallon national average threshold within a matter of days.

The level of oil production is more than the global economy can take on, putting downward pressure on crude oil prices. The price should slip below this year’s low this week, becoming the lowest national average since March 27, 2009.

Across the nation, gasoline prices averaged less than $3 a gallon in all 50 states, ranging from a high of $2.81 in Hawaii to a low of $1.81 in MI, the AAA said. Several stations in Texas are posting prices of $1.40 to $1.45 per gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Almost two-thirds of the nation’s 130,000 gas stations now are selling that gasoline for under $2/gallon, a remarkable change from a year ago, when 0 percent of stations were under $2.