Gas prices fall 10 cents in week, near yearly low

After a summer of surging gas prices, area residents are getting a little relief at the pumps as they enjoy some of the lowest gas prices of the year.

Local gas prices dropped 10 cents in the last week to lower the average price of regular unleaded self-serve gasoline in Cape Girardeau to $1.29 and to $1.26 in Jackson.

Don't think drivers haven't noticed.

"I think gas prices have been outrageous for some time," said Kim Greable, who was filling up her car at Basic Fuel in Jackson on Tuesday. "It's time they come down and they need to stay down."

The Southeast Missouri average is lower than the statewide average of $1.38, and it's well below the national average of $1.59.

The drop largely was driven by an increase in supplies after a broken pipeline in Arizona and the East Coast power outage created shortages during August, according to Mike Right, a spokesman for AAA in St. Louis. The end of the summer driving season eased pressure on prices as well, he said.

"We're in pretty good shape in Missouri," Right said. "We're getting to be about where we were a year ago."

That's better than where the state was a few weeks ago. Prices in Missouri have dropped statewide from $1.61. Nationally, the drop is the largest since the period after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Right said drivers shouldn't get overly optimistic that prices will stay down. He said supplies still aren't stellar, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has decided to cut daily production by 900,000 barrels Nov. 1.

"So we're not out of the woods yet," he said. "People should get used to the dramatic shifts in gasoline prices. We're more and more reliable on outside factors. Too many things can go wrong nowadays."

Scott Blank, whose family owns the two Bi-State convenience stores in Cape Girardeau, said these are likely among the lowest local drivers have seen in a long time.

"If it's not the lowest of the year, it's close," Blank said. "My folks just got back from California where they were paying $2.29. It was incredible. They went all the way through the northwest, and they said the cheapest gas was right here in Cape."

Brad Smith, the general manager for the three D-Marts in Cape Girardeau and the one in Jackson, said people start calling the attorney general when prices rise suddenly to suggest price gouging. But he said most gas station owners only get about 13 cents a gallon in profit.

"But it was supply that brought it up," he said. "And it's supply that brought it down. I hope it keeps going down, as a consumer."

Drivers said they were tired of high prices that were rising for reasons they didn't think made much sense.

"It goes up too much and really fast," said Don Sides of Fruitland, Mo. "I was coming to town one day and it was $1.37. By the time I was heading home it was $1.49. Why that much?"

Margaret Sammut of Jackson said, while gas prices may not mean much to some, people on a fixed income notice.

"I live in the country, and I have to budget my trips into town," she said. "When prices are up, I don't get to make as many trips into town as I'd like. So it makes me feel good to see the prices come down."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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