Falling gas prices cause less headaches at the pump
Stacey Campbell - STAFF WRITER
Issue date: 11/7/08 Section: News
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Jessica Zopf, marketing and communication coordinator from the Department of Natural Resources, said, "It's been a pretty steep decline, we are seeing a 24 percent decline from September's average. It's going lower and lower."
The lowest average in the country right now is in Gulf Coast Region with a price of $2.22 a gallon, with the Midwest hitting the charts at a close second with an average of $2.23 a gallon which is $0.80 cheaper than this time last year.
Lauryn Camp, undecided freshman, said, "I filled up my tank for $20 the other day which is a lot better than it was."
Iowa is experiencing even lower prices than the averages nationwide because the national average only takes into account the price of regular gasoline. The price of ethanol is cheaper than the national average at $1.84 on Nov. 4, in the Des Moines area.
"I'd like to see it get lower, I didn't think it would get this low," Camp said.
According to the Department of Energy Web site, "Crude oil prices are determined by worldwide supply and demand."
It helps Iowa has a tax incentive for ethanol because it gives Des Moines some of the lowest prices in the country, Zopf said.
The global economic downturn is a factor which is driving down the demand for gasoline, which is causing the price of oil to drop, going from a record of $147 a barrel on July 17, to $63.91 a barrel on November 3.
"If the economy continues on the downward trend gas prices will continue to fall," Zopf said.
Oil consumption in the U.S. is down by eight percent from this time last year according to data on the Department of Energy Web site.
The oil consumption in the U.S. in 2007 was 7.5 billion barrels of oil. Each barrel yields approximately 19.6 gallons of regular gasoline, which comes out to 147 billion gallons of regular gasoline which is enough to fill Saylorville Lake five and a half times.
Lower gas prices mean more money in the pockets of students.
Kevin Crow, business administration and marketing junior, said, "It's allowing me to spend more money on other need based obligations."
With the current market status and the falling demand for oil, along with falling oil prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided at their 150th Meeting of the OPEC Conference on Oct. 24, they would slow the current oil production of 28.808 million barrels a day to 27.308 million barrels a day effective Nov. 1.
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