Gas prices likely will keep falling

Gas prices in Missouri have fallen 14 cents per gallon in the past week -- part of a national trend leading toward lower gas prices for the next few months, experts say.

The state's average cost per gallon Monday was $2.29, compared to last week's $2.43 average, according to a daily report by AAA.

The national average was at $2.47, and 19 states saw prices under $2, according to GasBuddy.com, a market research firm that tracks fuel prices across the country.

In Cape Girardeau and Scott City, prices ranged from $2.15 to $2.19 per gallon Monday. Perryville, Missouri, residents reported prices at $2.09 per gallon, and those in Bollinger County saw slightly higher prices of about $2.29 per gallon in Marble Hill.

"Nationally, gas prices saw their largest weekly drop of the year," Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy, said in a statement. "Prices moved lower in all but one state, Utah, with plunges at the pump throughout the Great Lakes as a result of BP's Whiting, Indiana, refinery coming back online."

The national average now stands at its lowest point since April, DeHaan said.

"While oil prices rallied late last week, I don't yet expect it to impact pump prices, as they still have some catching up to do with the drop in crude oil prices," he said.

Since June 30, oil prices have fallen 23 percent, while retail gasoline prices have fallen about half that amount, he said. So, gasoline prices will move lower again this week.

Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service, recently told The Associated Press that OPIS sees pump prices falling 12 cents to 17 cents a month from September through December.

klamb@semissourian.com

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