Gas prices drop locally and nationwide

As the summer travel season goes into full throttle, gas prices are beginning to drop, falling 2.5 cents a gallon in the United States and almost twice that here in the Midwest.

The dip comes at a time when people traditionally think of gas prices going up because more vacationers are traveling, though analysts say that's not the case.

"It's an old wives' tale," said oil industry analyst Trilby Lundberg, whose Lundberg Survey of 8,000 gas stations across the country was conducted between May 17 and Friday. "Our peak driving season is under way, and at this point, gasoline costs 29 cents less than it did a year ago."

According to a survey released Sunday, the average cost of self-serve regular gasoline in the United States has fallen to $1.40 a gallon over the past three weeks. Prices in Cape Girardeau are below that, hovering around $1.20.

The two factors are lower crude oil prices and gasoline supplies that are more than enough to meet demand, said Lundberg, who heads the California-based independent market research company.

Crude oil prices fell more than $3 per barrel and show no sign of rising soon, Lundberg said.

"Both the industry and the motorists appear to have a sunny window on summer at this point," she said. "The most likely scenario seems to be price stability or even further drops in price."

'Take advantage of it'

At Wink's convenience stores, regional manager Bobbi Hadley said her records show that last May, gas was $1.42. Now, they are also at $1.19. She said that gas prices are not connected to busy travel times.

"It's based on what we pay for it," she said. "It's just supply and demand."

At Kidd's convenience stores, Sprigg Street Station and Rhodes 101 Stop, gas was listed at $1.19. At Cash Only on William Street, the price was $1.18.

"The prices always go up and down," said Mo Abukhudeir, who owns Kwik Pantry on Broadway, where gas was $1.19. "People should take advantage of it while it's down."

He said that drivers should not expect to see the prices drop much further, though.

"I don't care what anybody tells you, they do raise the price in the summer because more people are on the road," he said. "It's not going to go way down, not to 99 cents. You're not ever going to see that in the summer."

Cape Girardeau driver Julie Hoffman hadn't noticed that gas prices have fallen in recent weeks, though she admits that may be because she still longs for prices last year that for a time dipped below $1 a gallon.

"I think I just got spoiled," the 25-year-old said Monday while she topped off her car at Rhodes 101 Stop on William Street. "It wasn't all that long ago that gas was 99 cents. So a buck-19 doesn't seem that cheap to me. But it's good to hear that it's gone down."

Other motorists were skeptical that prices would continue to drop.

"I don't believe that it will," said Renae Morgan, 21, of Sedgewickville, Mo. "It always goes up in the summertime. I don't know why, but that's the way it seems to go."

Aron Gibson, 22, of Olmsted, Ill., comes to Missouri to fill up because gas is cheaper.

"They'll raise it again before the summer's over," he said. "It's like everything else, always costing more."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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