Gas prices plunge as use drops

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Jim Tiffin
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Connie Chavez, of Laguna, said she is extremely pleased to see that gas prices have dropped to below $3 per gallon.

“I hope they stay like this for awhile and stop fluctuating,” she said. “If they keep going down though, I won't complain.”

Chavez was filling her Chevrolet Suburban at the Skyway gas station and travel center at Interstate Highway 40, exit 85 on Saturday, while preparing to return to Albuquerque where she works. She said she was in town to visit relatives.

Gas prices have dropped more than 45 cents in the past two weeks, this past week going below $3 per gallon for the first time in a year.

Results mixed

Wanda Archuleta, manager of the Cibola Chevron gasoline station and convenience store on the west side of Grants, said the station has not seen much of an increase in business since gas prices dropped.

“We are about the same between 450 to 500 customers a day,” she said.

That is not the case however for the Love's Truck Stop and Travel Center at Interstate 40, exit 79.

Manager Joshua Anders said his business has increased since prices dropped.

The truck stop is adjacent to the interstate and he said it is non-stop busy.

“We are actually up about 40 percent in business, but I couldn't tell you how many customers that is though,” he said.

Late Friday afternoon, Anders had an employee outside dropping the price of gas at his station from $2.85 to $2.83 per gallon.

“We look at the competition in the area and always go lower,” he said.

Stations in the area vary by only a cent or two, with most of them at $2.85 for regular unleaded gasoline.

Dan Ronan, spokesman for AAA, said the current average for gas statewide is $2.85 and nationwide the average is $2.78.

Alaska has he most expensive gas in the nation at $3.78 per gallon and Oklahoma has the cheapest at $2.37 per gallon, according to information provided by AAA.
Gas is currently about 6 cents higher than it was last year at this time. Gas hit a high of $4.11 nationally on July 17.

AAA is projecting that gas prices could go as low as $2.30 per gallon by Thanksgiving, even lower by the end of the year.

Three reasons

There are three reasons why gas prices have come down so much, Ronan said.

First, people are driving much less, this has the effect of increasing the gasoline reserves in the United States, so much in fact that there are hundreds of millions of gas in the country’s Strategic Reserves and held by private companies.

Second, and there is some overlap here with the first reason, the country is either moving toward or already is in a recession, which has caused many people to drive less.

Third, all the refineries are up and running at top efficiency. The hurricanes in the Gulf did not damage the refineries much.

“Put all these things in the mix and you have lower gas prices,” he said.

— To contact reporter Jim Tiffin call (505) 287-2197 or e-mail: jtiffin.independent@yahoo.com.