Oklahoma’s average gasoline price has dropped below $3 a gallon, reversing course from what occurred a week ago, according to AAA Oklahoma. Tuesday was the sixth consecutive day that Oklahoma’s average price at the pump had fallen according to spokesman Chuck Mai who said it now had reached $2.97. Last week, it reached $3.02 a gallon.
“The tight supply problems of October have sorted themselves out and we expect prices will continue to tick lower barring any unexpected market-moving developments. The state average may drop to as low as $2.80 by the end of the year,” said Mai. Oklahoma is one of 23 states with gasoline averages of less than $3 a gallon.
The cheapest prices in Oklahoma appear to be in the southeast where Idabel has an average of $2.72 a gallon, a drop of 7 cents a gallon in the past week. Lawton’s average is $2.89, the same as the average in Shawnee. Tulsa’s average is $2.94 while drivers in Oklahoma City are paying an average of $2.95. Guymon is still highest with an average of $3.16 a gallon and Stillwater is the only other city with an average above $3 with an average of $3.01 a gallon.
Nationally, the average is $2.97, according to Oklahoma AAA and that’s the lowest average since December 8, 2010.
The key to lower gasoline prices is falling oil prices. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude has plunged nearly 25 percent since June.
“The one wild card in all this is what the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries might or might not do,” said Mai. “Iran and Kuwait recently idicated that a reduction in production was unlikely but Saudi Arabia has been silent on the matter.”
He noted that Saudi Arabia reduced its price for crude oil exports to the U.S. and it prompted a drop in the price of West Texas Intermediate this week.
