Gasoline prices edge down

A combination of factors, including repairs being made to damaged oil pipelines and refineries on the Gulf Coast, are helping to bring down the price of gasoline in the area.

Bi-State Oil Co. owner Scott Blank said his gas station in Cape Girardeau has been able to drop the cost of unleaded fuel from $2.99 to $2.83 a gallon. Rhodes 101 Convenience Stores will be going down in price as well.

Across the nation, average gas prices have dropped from $3.06 to $3.04 a gallon for unleaded gas since Monday, said Mike Right, a spokesman for AAA in St. Louis.

The price of crude oil has also gone down, from $70 a barrel last week to $64.64 on Wednesday.

But, according to Blank, the price of crude is not the main issue with the high costs of fuel. It's supply.

"There's no power in New Orleans, which is where our main pipeline comes from," he said.

However, the restoration of several major oil pipelines in the Gulf will begin to bring the supply level back up and help decrease the price of gas, Right said.

"Europe is starting to ship fuel to the United States," he said. "Demand is starting to shrink. I think there was a lot of conservation of fuel in the last week. "

The federal government's decision to both loan and sell oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve has also eased prices.

Jim Maurer, co-owner of Rhodes 101 Convenience Stores, said that even though repairs are being made to the damaged oil pipelines and refineries, there's still a shortage.

In fact, Bi-State had to resort to getting fuel from the St. Louis market to keep its pumps full last week.

But as the repairs continue, Blank believes the price of gas should continue to drop.

"I don't want to make any predictions, but once they get the power back on down there, then the prices should go back down," he said. "It's a daily issue, but we are seeing drops right now."

Right agreed.

"We'll probably have pre-Katrina prices within the next couple of weeks," he said.

The Energy Information Administration, a division of the Department of Energy, said Wednesday morning that it sees U.S. retail gasoline prices falling to $2.58 a gallon in the fourth quarter.

On Wednesday Kidd's gas station at 1325 Broadway in Cape Girardeau had lowered its price of unleaded fuel to $2.83 a gallon. Basic Fuel at 2927 E. Jackson Blvd. in Jackson reported unleaded fuel was $2.79 a gallon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

jfreeze@semissourian.com