It might feel a bit like 2009 for motorists filling up in Mississippi.
Statewide gas prices for regular fuel are averaging about $1.83 per gallon, which is as low as they’ve been in six years.
The drop in prices is the continuation of a downward trend from a peak in June, where prices peaked at about $2.50 per gallon.
In the Golden Triangle, prices are in line with averages for the rest of the state. According to gasbuddy.com, a gas price monitoring website, prices in Columbus range from $1.77 to $2.09 per gallon. In Starkville, prices range from $1.71 to $1.99 per gallon. West Point prices range from $1.79 to $1.83 per gallon.
American Automobile Association analyst Don Redman said the trend in Mississippi is reflective of a national drop in gas prices, and should continue as winter sets in.
Redman said prices experienced a small bump — about 10 cents per gallon in Mississippi — about a month ago as refineries switched from summer to winter-grade gasoline. Since then, they’ve settled back down and should continue falling.
“If we imitate what we did in 2008 — and that’s kind of the expectation — we could see a final monthly average of $1.59,” Redman said. “That’s where we were in 2008. We started December 2008 at $1.71 and we ended the month at $1.48. It’s very possible that we could see similar prices by the end of the year.”
A few factors have led to the precipitous drop in gas prices, Redman said.
He said the boom of North American energy production has played a significant role in forcing down prices.
Saudi Arabia pumping the market with oil has also contributed to further reduced prices.
“There’s been a philosophical change in OPEC and particularly in Saudi Arabia, which for decades had been focused on price and wanting to maintain certain prices,” he said. “For the past several years, they’ve wanted to maintain a price of $100 a barrel for oil. Saudi Arabia had a philosophical change this year that they were more concerned about market share than price. That’s when you saw the price of crude tumbling from $100-110 per barrel down to $40 a barrel or thereabout.”
Redman said AAA hasn’t completed a forecast for how many people might travel for the Christmas and New Year holiday season. Still, he said more people are expected to travel this year than last year.
Some of that can be attributed to low gas prices, he said, but it’s more a sign of ongoing growth in the economy than cheap gas alone. He said low gas prices are more likely to impact how far people travel and how long they stay, rather than if they travel at all.
“Nationally, in 2007 for Thanksgiving, we had over 50 million people traveling for Thanksgiving,” he said. “That’s at gas prices almost 75 cents higher than 2008. In November 2008 gasoline was selling for about $1.65 a gallon and you had almost 15 million fewer drivers. The gas was cheaper, but the economy was in the tank and people weren’t traveling.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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